Peace
by Marshall Highwind
Summary: The war's finished. Naruto fulfilled his promise, and now because of him, Sakura's happiness was secured. But what about him? Follow the blond Uzumaki, on his quest to finally bring absolute peace to the world while he struggles to find peace inside himself. Fortunately, he's not as alone as he thinks he is.
1. The Wedding

Introduction:

This is a NaruHina focused story. I've lost count of how many attempts I've made at writting a Naruto Fanfiction, but this is my first NaruHina, and to be honest, I have really interesting ideas to share with you guys. Please read and be honest with your opinions... I will keep my smartass self at bay. Any references to Kingdom Hearts, I apologize in advice for, in case there's anybody who hates this frandchise (by the way, if there IS somebody who hates it, what's wrong with you? lol JK).

I also apologize if there's anybody who loves reading about a Naruto who's all the time finishing his sentences with 'ttebayo. I like that trait of his, but in terms of writting, it kinda gets in the way, doesn't it? Especially when you need Naruto to be serious and more mature. I won't picture Sakura as a bitch or similars, because I'm trying to be both impartial and neutral in terms of favoritism, the only exceptions being of course, Naruto and Hinata. I'm also intriducing myself as a character, and several others... You'll see soon enough. I never introduce new characters that all of a sudden are as powerful as, or more powerful than main characters. Nah, I like it real.

By the way, I use a lot of Japanese expressions. Sorry for ruling out 'ttebayo, but these others I think are a bit cooler:

'Takku, or also Mattaku: A way of saying "Jeez" or "For crying out loud". Simply a show of frustration.

Teme: Bastard or any other way of aggresively addressing someone else, as many of you know.

Doistumo Koitsumo: This expression is usually used when two or more people behave in a frustrating, yet familiar way. Think of it as those times when you want to say something like: "You two are always at it", or "It's always the same with you people"

Koitsu: Literally, "this guy" or "this girl"

Aitsu: Same as above, but merely changing "this" for "that"

These are only expressions with which I find myself comfortable with. I'm in no way stating that I know Japanese or anything similar. In fact, I'm pretty sure most of you knew the meaning for those terms, even better than I do. Just felt like writing just in case.  
With these things being said, I'll just go ahead and start with the story. Please read it carefully and taking your time... Enjoy!

Peace.

I. The Wedding.

"You know, I'd say you look great in that outfit and whatnot... But coming from me, it would sound kind of weird, wouldn't it?" Said a familiar male voice behind him.

The young man, whose clothes resembled those of a noble about to face an audience of particularly high importance in the world, caught the light of the visitor's eyes. The light was as blue as sea. Not like he needed to know that to be able to tell who it was. He was sensing him coming to the Groom's Room from afar, hearing the footsteps of that clumsy walking style of his. The man smiled and turned his head slightly, to greet him.

"Well, taking into account the way in which you stubbornly chased after me this whole time, I wouldn't be surprised if all of a sudden you wanted to rape me. Stalker." Uchiha Sasuke said to him in response. The blonde visitor chuckled faintly, and laid his back against the threshold. He was dressed similar to Sasuke, though Sasuke's white was black in the other's, and the Uchiha Emblem was also changed for a Red Spiral Emblem on both the other's chest and presumably, his back.

"What are you doing here, teme? Aren't you supposed to be _there_ already?" The visitor, who had six whisker-like marks on his cheeks, three in each, shook his head and smiled mockingly. "I bet you just want to be the last one to show up, like in the Chuunin Exams three years ago. 'Taku... Sorry, no can do today. It's _her_ day. Not yours, got it?"

"I was just thinking..." Sasuke turned his head to the mirror again, and put a hand on his face, covering his right eye, which was already covered by a considerable amount of his hair, and an eyepatch. His expression lost all signs of cheerfulness, and became thoughtful. "... Do I really deserve this, Naruto?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto recoiled a bit, at the usage of his name.

"All the things I've done..." Sasuke closed his only revealed eye. "... Is it really okay for me to be marrying her today, as if those things had never happened? I hurted her so much. And you... I hurted you the most..."

Silence. Naruto stared at Sasuke with serious eyes for a moment, and then smiled in a way Sasuke was both glad and hurt to see. Another fake smile, number who-knows-which ever since Sasuke had came back to the village. Was it because he had really been hurt by Sasuke, more than the Uchiha could even tell, or was it because he mentioned _her_?

"I don't know if I have enough wisdom to answer that. You know how I am giving lectures..." He folded his arms. "... But if I must say... I'd answer you with this: nobody really has the right to say who deserves what. Not you. Not me. Not anybody else. And... You know, if all the villages are caught up in the middle of trying to achieve peace between them, and they give you another chance... Then never mind deserving it or not. Just take it. How many do you think would literally die for that chance? Zabuza and Haku, for example."

Silence again. Sasuke uncovered his right eye, at least from his hand, and opened his other eye. He looked himself at the mirror, closely trying to analize Naruto's gaze through his reflection on it.

"I wonder if I'm ready to take it..."

"So what? Are you gonna run away?"

"Of course not. I love her. Besides, who would run away knowing that you of all people would be the one chasing me? And to the ends of hell, that is."

"You got that right."

"'Taku. Getting lectured by a nuthead like you... What was I even thinking? This is disgraceful." Sasuke smiled in his usual arrogant-like way, though his eyes displayed a trace of relief and happiness. Naruto snorted.

"See, that's the thing. You _weren't_ thinking. But that's okay... It's not a sin to be stupid. And it does fit you, to be honest..." He said, pointing at the corridor outside the room with his head and asking Sasuke to follow him by doing it.

"Since when are you such a wise ninja anyway? What's gotten into you? I bet this is Kakashi using Henge with your looks, I wouldn't be surprised... The normal "you" would find it hard to add two and two when talking..."

"Now, now, be careful! Today's off charts,'cause of your wedding and whatnot. But tomorrow, I can whipe the floor with ya. I'm the stronger of the two, this time." Naruto said defiantly, while they walked through the corridor towards the room in which the ceremony would take place.

"Whatever you say, son. Whatever you say..." Sasuke replied, smirking as he did years back, whenever Naruto would start with their rival-ish arguments.

As soon as both he and the Uzumaki had put hands on the door handles (they had reached the room by then, and its entrance door was something to be reckoned with), however, Sasuke's mind flew around a particularly troublesome thought, right before they opened the doorway.

"Naruto... You love her, don't you?"

The third moment of silence of their conversation. Naruto's expression went incredibly unclear, as his hair had covered his eyes and the rest of his face told nothing. Then, as if with that was enough to avoid the whole matter, Naruto snorted and smiled in the same way in which Sasuke couldn't say whether relieved him or worried him sick.

"Sorry. Don't know what you're talking about."

He moved the door handle and his side of the doorway was opened. Sasuke followed him swiftly afterwards, trying to keep up and not be seen as a pathetic groom. "_There it is_..." Sasuke thought. "..._That same damn expression on his face_." And sure enough, there it was. On Naruto's face. His eyes simply lost brightness and seemed to be no longer the deep, moody sea they were... It was now like staring at a blue star fading away, getting closer to pitch black by the second. And to make things worse, Naruto sort of thought that everybody was stupid enough as to think that his smile could cover the more than evident change in those eyes of his, which usually are what people remember the most.

In a similar way as it had happened with his parents' wedding, Sasuke's was being held in the Wedding Room procured by the Hyuuga Clan. And as expected of it, the one feared as Konoha's strongest, they went overboard in terms of fanciness. And apparently, the other Konoha Clans were more than happy to help. Yamanaka's Clan, for example, had facilitated the most exquisite and beautiful flower decorations and themes. The smell was only as strong as that of the food and beverages being readied by the Akimichi Clan, whose sole purpose appeared to be saving the world (or maybe just the wedding) from starvation. From Aburame, Nara, Hyuuga and (Sasuke had to double-check) Inuzuka Clans, beautiful female musicians filled the environment with soft, relaxing music that encouraged people's expectant feelings for the wedding itself. To make Sasuke even more nervous and ashamed than he already was, not only Tsunade and Konoha's Elders were behind the Altar as watching entities, but also Sabaku no Gaara (and silblings), Killerbee and Godaime Mizukage. How in the world had they been invited to the wedding, or by whom, Sasuke thought it was too troublesome to bother with. In the end, they were there... And the Uchiha's stomach was about to betray him. It was somehow relieving that people didn't give all the attention to him. Naruto was sharing the fame, just as much as he was, though he didn't seem aware of it. Hell, how did he manage to go through these situations like there was nothing to it, Sasuke didn't know. Although, right now, he was just wondering if it could be that Naruto's feelings towards the wedding would prevent him from panicking at the sight of hundreds and hundreds of people watching his every move. Perhaps he was just too hurt to care?  
As they finally reached the Altar, which wasn't too higher than the rest of the ground floor (it was a feudal like room, after all), Sasuke's only eye met Godaime Hokage's, and there was a slightly tense moment between them both.

"You and I have not always seen eye to eye, Uchiha Sasuke." Tsunade said strictly. "But you mean the world to this stupid son of mine here..." She pointed at Naruto with her thumb, and the blonde let out an annoyed "hey, watch it" at her remark. "... So that makes you another stupid son of mine. I hope you don't let any of us down... And lose the chance we've given you."

"I won't". Sasuke replied bowing both to her and the Elders, who watched him carefully and even frowning a bit. "I'm sorry for all the trouble that I have caused you. I will make it right. I promise."

The reply he got from them was a slow and silent nod of approval. Sasuke bowed again, and then he and Naruto faced the audience. Both of them (Naruto being of course, the best man), bowed at them in a traditional way and stood in their positions, silently waiting for the bride to arrive. the scene adopted a quite remarkable change after this. The lightning was lowered a bit, and the music changed to something relaxed still, but a bit more intense at the same time. Cherry-blossom petals began falling from all sorts of places, and floated around in an almost theatrical way. Apparently, it couldn't get more obvious just who was Sasuke marrying.

"The Yamanakas really know how to put an amazing show, huh?" Naruto said, gazing at the petals with lost eyes and faint smile.

"Naruto."

"What."

"Don't play dumb with me." Sasuke used his only eye to glare at Naruto, and a rare, crimson light shone out of them in an intimidating way. "Why are you being so stubborn? Just admit it... Ever since we were kids, you have..."

"Like I said..." Naruto returned the glare, twofold in this case. His was also red and aggresive. Sasuke felt like a fox had just been angered, but it wasn't the case. It was just them being all manly, trying to show off each other's resolve. Trying to act tough to hide what lurked inside their hearts... A need to reveal all the doubts and pain in those hearts... Particularly, Naruto's. "...I don't know what are you talking about."

"You may think I haven't noticed, but back then... You loved her enough to come after me. All the way to the Valley of the End. So now you want me to believe that all those feelings just vanished?"

"Gone. _Poof_." Naruto illustrated his "poof" remark with moving his hand and fingers. "Nothing for you to worry about..."

"Bakka. Do you think it's me I'm worried about? Grow up." Sasuke knew nobody could hear them, and nobody could really notice how fiercely were they glaring at each other. "...I'm not gonna let anybody have her. I love her more than anything. But you deserve her more than I do, Naruto... And I know she's all you've wished for since, like, forever."

"That's an interesting hypothesis you've got there, teme." Naruto snorted and folded his arms. "Let's say I play along with it, just for the sake of getting this conversation over and done with. Why, while knowing those things, would you marry her then?"

"Are you sure the question's not more like: why don't you just cut the wedding short and take her?"

"I'm not that kind of guy. I don't force people to like me...They always end up choosing to do so. At least, most of the times."

"Well, I'm not the kind of guy who lets his wishes and priviledges go away with some random idiot, either." Sasuke blinked."But you're far from being a random idiot, Naruto. You spoke of taking chances right then and there, before. So why not doing it?"

"Because... Girls don't work that way, Sasuke. You of all people should know." He smiled and softened his gaze back to normal. "Besides... This is all hypothetical, isn't it?"

"Tch!" Sasuke's eye returned to black and deep. Both of them saw a shadowy silhouette behind the entrance door, and looked sharp. The bride was there.

"Have it your own damned way, then."

The doorway was opened, and three women passed through it, followed by the folk's whispering and admiration gasps. Yamanaka Ino, and Tsunade's assistant: Shizune, were wearing both sea-blue kimonos, with a white obi and traditional sandals. Their hair was in such a style that Naruto and Sasuke had a hard time recognizing them. Make-up was soft, if any. Their eyes were crearly seen, and they were focused on the main women of the trio, who was leading the way. A silky, white veil hid her face and head, but it wasn't enough to eclipse the incredibly bright green light that came from her eyes. Her wedding Kimono was white entirely, except for the few Cherry Blossom flower patterns here and there. Her obi was pink, and the scent coming from both her and her bridesmaids was making everybody feel in heaven.

Sasuke gulped. This was a moment like no other, that was for sure.

Half-way through, a man rose from his position and leaded the bride to the Altar wih her hand on his arm. He had white, silvery hair and a set of golden eyes. His noble tunic was about as white as it can get. He was smiling, yet his was a smile apparently as complicated as Naruto's. It was hiding something. What was it, however, Sasuke couldn't tell.

The whole scenery took about five minutes, but they felt like hours with each step the bride took. Naruto's expression showed a side of his personality that Sasuke would have never thought even existed. Solemnity. Demureness. He took one step forward to the bride, and helped her climb to the Altar easily, by taking her hand. The bride's eyes and Naruto's met... And Sasuke was close enough to hear everything.

"Naruto..." She said."... Have you got any idea how much I owe you and thank you for all you've done?"  
Naruto kissed her hand swiftly and guided her, making her be in front of Sasuke. The blonde then made sure her hand and the Uchiha's were intertwined.

"...Sorry, Sakura-chan. You of all people should know how much I suck at reading women's feelings." He chuckled.

Sakura and Sasuke smirked. The man who guided Sakura to the Altar followed Naruto. They bowed to each other, and Sasuke could notice how while exchanging positions (the man going to the middle of the Altar, that is between Sakura and him, and Naruto going to their right, facing the bridesmaids), there was a quick exchange of nods between him and the Jiinchuuriki. "_So, he knows..._" Sasuke thought. "_... Sakura's father isn't ignorant about how much has Naruto done for her..._"

Without further ado, Sakura's father proceeded to put his own hand on Sasuke and Sakura's joined hands, and addressed the audience with the speech that all of them were waiting for. Sasuke looked at Sakura, and removed the veil... It was like gazing at pure light. Her pink hair was dressed beautifuly. Her eyes stole all the attention, though... She was looking at him just as strongly as he was looking at her.

"You look beautiful."

"And you look surprised." She replied, smiling.

"Not at all. I just think I really am the luckiest guy ever..."

_**HERE LIES HYUUGA NEJI**__**  
SON OF HYUUGA HIZASHI  
HYUUGA CLAN'S SECOND BRANCH'S GREATEST GENIUS  
HERO OF THE FOURTH NINJA WAR  
A FRIEND, A BROTHER, A COMRADE IN ARMS...  
MAY HIS SOUL FIND THE PEACE THAT DID NOT EXIST IN THIS WORLD UNTIL NOW.**_

"'Taku. What's up with these quotes, man?" He rubbed his spiky hair, a bit disappointed. "They should put cool stuff, like the fact that he could use Kaiten despite being from the second branch... Or the fact that he became Jounin at young age... "Genius" doesn't really decribe shit about him."

From within, a place that he and he alone could visit, and which had the form of a sunny island, the gigantic and red fox with nine tails had chuckled mockingly and stared at Naruto's soul, consciousness and self. He was there. Inside himself, but there... And he looked troubled.

"Perhaps they should have left YOU in charge of the quotes..." the creature said with a deep, male and intimidating voice. Naruto, whose soul was simply sitting in the island's beach and looking at the sea waves, turned his head at him.

"Oh, I woke you up. Sorry, Kurama."

"What woke me up was your ranting about _those two_."

"Is that so?" Naruto smirked. "I must have sounded like a girl. So uncool. Sorry."

"Say, if it really bothers you so much... Why not finishing the blessed wedding and escaping the place with her? You humans are complicated."

"We are complicated alright." Naruto said.

Kurama laid his face on his hands, next to Naruto, and gazed at the sea with him. Ever since their relationship changed, the cage and the watery floor had been replaced by that island. Naruto, in the outside, merely put a bouquet of flowers next to Neji's tombstone, and then gazed at the moon in the sky.  
Things had certainly changed since the war finished, but even then, after all that happened there, and after he was able to bring Sasuke back from the Darkness, he still felt like he had a long way to go. That is, if he really wanted to bring peace to this world... And change the Shinobi system, like his father and Jiraiya had tried before him. The fact that there was still the need to have a military system, weapons and all sorts of defense strategies meant that in any moment, war can ensue. By reasons unkown... Or unimportant. After all, war ends up being the same no matter what kind of reason it has behind. Though of course, the more stupid the reason is, the more painful it is to live and see people die for it. And this time, even if they thought that the Fourth Ninja War was to protect Killerbee and him, Shikamaru's father, Ino's father... And Neji... All of them were still dead. Gone. There was really no way for him to not feel bad.

"Do you blame yourself?" Kurama asked from within.

"No... Or I don't know. Do I...?" Naruto shook his head. "I don't know if I blame myself for being weak, or if I blame the weakness in itself. Or maybe it's both... I'm not sure. It just hit me. Here I was, feeling bad because of _them_, when in the meantime there were three families with one member short."

"The path you chose, Naruto..." Kurama said. "...Is one of many lessons. Both painful and pleasant. And if you really wish to keep going, if you really want to bring these people peace, I suggest you start from yourself first. Outside right now there's peace, but inside here there's a war going on..."

"A war inside me? Who's up against whom?"

"What you think it's right against what you want." Kurama growled. "And it's not like I can help you in this one... After all, both sides are you. They belong to you, and they're both pretty right in what they say."

"Well, that's some messed up war, huh?" Naruto smiled, and gazed back at Neji's grave. "I guess it's not possible to be done with it after a Bijuu Bomb, is it?"

"Not with this one, it's not. No shortcuts."

"Well, you are right, Kurama. No point in looking for peace out there when inside me there's hell. I guess I should just start looking for those answers... I'm sure I won't find them all in here."

"So, what are you gonna do? About _those two_, I mean..."

"Even if it makes my inside war worse, this time I'll do what I think is right. Again. They're probably better off without me... And I'm probably better off without them too."

"What about the village?"

"What do you mean?"  
"I know all too well that by "they" you also mean Konoha. But you're not just yours anymore, right? You're a hero of this village, just like Neji... They need you."

"You really don't miss a thing, do you?" Naruto smiled and turned on his feet, about to leave the graveyard. "I don't want to leave the village either. But at this point, I wonder what other choice I have... How else am I supposed to get over this whole mess...?"

"Hmm..." Kurama apparently found it too complicated to bother with at the moment, and went to sleep. Naruto grinned lowly, and kept walking, until something made him stop. He caught the light of a set of white, silvery eyes... They were so sharp, but also kind and beautiful... And then he was able to distinguish their owner. Dark hair, that flowed all the way to the middle of her back. Skin so white that even though you'd say it's pale, it was still beautiful, and it looked soft... Delicate hands and feet. Thin, doll-like lips. Her kimono was deep-sea blue, and accentuated the bluish glow from her hair and her beauty. Naruto gulped...

...He knew that Hinata had been invited to the wedding, and felt suddenly guilty for not even looking out for her during it. It was implied just how beautiful must she have looked, being the heiress of the wedding's host family, but now that Naruto actually saw her, he thought whomever invented the word beautiful, had obviously not seen her first. That word was not enough.  
She apparently had her own feelings to deal with, regarding the sudden encounter with the Kyuubi's vessel. She had quickly blushed, but instead of fainting like before (something that Naruto had momentarily forgot about her). she smiled. Naruto suddenly felt he was the one fainting.

"Good evening, Naruto-kun."

"H-hi, Hinata, how's it goin'?"

"I'm fine. Thank you. Were you paying your respects to niisan?" She asked. It was then that Naruto realized how she was carrying a bouquet of red flowers. Roses.

"Uhhh... Sure... If you can call it that, I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling nervously. "You know I'm not the kind of guy who does these things."

"I think it's cute." She answered, passing by the blonde ninja and kneeling down to put the bouquet. "It's not often that we see men being emotional, least of all Shinobi. The fact that I find you here doing this, even after all that's happened... It tells me that you're still you. And that makes me happy..."  
She closed her eyes and clapped her hands together, praying silently. Naruto stood beside her. "_I'm still me, huh?_" He thought. "_I wonder..._"

Taking a good look at Hinata, Naruto felt like there was something strange about her. Beside the fact that he usually never knew what to say about her (her strange habit of fainting whenever he talked to her was the main culprit of that), with the war and Sasuke being gone and lost to the Darkness, he never really had the time to have a proper assesment of the Hyuuga, who in times had been of help to him. He gulped dryly at the thought of her recklessness back when Pain and him had their battle, and once again when thinking of her attitude at the war, right after her cousin had died. Yes, there was something off allright.

She did say she loved him once. But he was in the middle of a battle and, actually, that had been the first time he had ever heard those words from anybody. Pain's merciless attack at her begun way too quickly for him to even answer to her. And up until now, he's been avoiding the matter selfishly. But there was no getting off the hook this time. He _had_ to say something. He had to let her know his feelings...

...But what were his feelings?

Sighing, he looked at Hinata's face. She seemed so... At peace with herself. It was almost relaxing to watch. There was no fear, no hatred, no grudges, no tears, no sadness... It was like staring at the sky. Not a single storm cloud on it. Just blueness. Vastness. And calmness. Peace. There was peace inside her, when inside _him_, war had ensued. But how? How could she be so at peace in such an easy way? Shouldn't she feel, say, guilty for Neji's death? Hurt? Terrified? Was there really not a single thing that she felt towards that other than peacefulness? Was _he_ the one feeling those negative things, and expecting her to feel the same just to not feel lonely, just to think that he was less guilty?

He had to know what was going inside her. He had to.

As soon as she finished her praying and stood up, she took one flower from Naruto's bouquet and gave it a short sniff. She was delighted and smiled. She then looked ad Naruto, whose blue eyes were completely set on her... A warm feeling invaded them both.

"Hinata..."

"Yes?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Of course."

Naruto closed his eyes for a short moment, and he was immediatly engulfed in a yellowish, orange light. It looked like he had been turned into flames... Like his body itself was fire. Light that blazed as fire. His hair became even spikier, and two of his hair bangs became static, resembling horns. His eyes turned orange, and his clothes were covered by an ethereal tunic... There were strange black marks all around his body.

"Take my hand, please."

"S-sure..." Hinata agreed, quickly reminded about that time in the war, right after Neji's death. Naruto had used that same power, that same cloak... There was an unnatural amount of power, of chakra, coming from him. And everything felt... Lively. Vital. Energic... Hinata felt like she could suddenly fly. She gave him her hand, and after that... Warmth invaded both of them like never before.

In Naruto's case, however, it was not only warmth. It was something that he knew,was going to take more than just that night to figure out. Love was his first assesment, of course. But he knew so little about love that he wasn't sure if it was enough to cover such an inmense, pure, beautiful feeling. His senses had been totally turned upside-down, he wasn't expecting to feel such things from such an innocent contact. He was totally overtaken by emotion... Tears began to flow. It felt just like taking his mother's hand again. It felt... Like Sakura's wedding didn't even move him, or tickle him at all.

"Naruto-kun... Are you okay?"

"What...? Oh! Uhhh...!" Naruto shook his head, and stopped his Bijuu Chakra. He wiped the tears from his eyes, and looked at Hinata, suddenly feeling his heart go crazy, and his mind faling him. "Y-yeah... Sorry, Hinata. I just... I was just thinking that I haven't been fair to you, to be honest."

"W-what...?" Hinata blinked, confused. Naruto shook his head again.

"I need to talk to you. And only you. Can we go somewhere else?"

Hinata blushed considerably after this.

"Yeah... I mean! Um, yes, of course. Wherever you think it's fine." Both of them looked down, embarrassed. Though Naruto could swear he heard a certan creature's laugh from within. He suddenly feared Kurama might possess him and do something perverted to Hinata, ever since he and Naruto developed enough trust in each other to leave it clear just how perverted they both were... And then a sudden thought of Hinata removing her clothing slowly with a naughty look flew around his mind.

"Who's more perveted than whom, I wonder..." Kurama's voice asked, before going to sleep again.

Naruto shook his head violently. "_Gah...! Pull yourself together, Uzumaki! This is_ not _the time! Come on!_"

He kept Hinata's hand inside his, and guided her towards the exit, walking nervously, but noticing a smile in her. It was then, that his ninja senses came back to normal, and he felt like they were both not alone. Sure enough, by the time they had reached the exit, a small "poof" was heard, and white smoke surrounded them for a while, giving room for another person to join the fray. He had a white robe, and an animal shaped mask. Naruto put himself in front of Hinata, and rised his guard.

"Who are _you_?"

"Isn't he ANBU, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, apparently not in a defensive mood.

"Oh, he's ANBU allright. What I _don't_ know, is if he's with those of the Root or with the Hokage."

"Naruto..." The ANBU said, displaying a male, young voice. "...I need you to come with me."

And that's how it is for chap. 1. I hope you liked it!... Please correct any and all mistakes in grammar or anything else that you find. English is not my mother language, after all.  
See you on next chap.!


	2. At The Hospital

II. At the Hospital.

"You don't say." Naruto said to the ANBU shinobi, frowning. "Look, sorry... But half the people who usually say I "need" to go with them... Hell, ALL the people who say that are normally trying to kill me. Or worse. So, uh, no. You'll just have to step aside, man."

There was a short moment of tense silence. Hinata's grip over Naruto's hand became tighter.

"I get it if you don't really trust the ANBU because of Danzou..." The hooded man said. "... But him, the Root and us are not in the same boat. We helped the Hokage through the history of this village, the invasion of Pain was no exception. Tsunade-sama is alive partially because of us... So, please..."

"If that's the case, then how about you get that mask off your face, huh?" Naruto smirked defiantly. "I asked who you are. And I want an answer."

"Naruto-kun... There's a reason behind that mask." Hinata said, looking serious. "It's not just to conceal one's identity. It's also because they want to be free from the things they themselves do..."

"Huh?" Naruto gazed at Hinata, who in return gazed at him. She wasn't bluffing and she wasn't speaking for the sake of it either. She really looked like she knew what she was talking about, which made Naruto feel a powerful feeling of regret and guilt. His first realization about that girl was how much of a "weirdo" she was for him. And though during the Chuunin exams his opinion changed considerably, he still couldn't bring himself to count on her for things in which he needed help. But ever since Pain's attack... She...

"What Hinata-sama says is entirely true." The ANBU said. Both Uzumaki and Hyuuga turned back to him, their cheeks coloured a bit red. "Naruto... Looking at our own faces after realizing what we have to do as ANBU members... Not many are able to do such thing. We develop certain... Habits, to keep our minds and our hearts distracted from those actions we are responsible for. Wearing a mask for about anything we do, is one of those habits... Of course, this is applied to those ANBU with the highest rank. Rookies and bodyguards, however strong, they have no such burdens to bear. Yet."

"But the war is over." Naruto replied stubbornly. "There's no longer any threat coming from any village, an alliance has been formed. A true one. There's no need for more interrogation, torture or unnecesary, violent things like those. And if you really want to be free of those things you do... Or did... You have no choice but to face them. Take that mask off and face yourself... Prove yourself that you are better than those things. You need to forgive yourself."

The ANBU chuckled in a way very much like that of the person Naruto had fought the most ruthlessly in the war. Uchiha Obito. The only reason why it seemed a chuckle, was because apparently it amused the ANBU. But on different circumstances, if they had been fighting, Naruto would have not seen the difference between that laugh and a plain snort... Such was the coldness coming from him. Although, unlike Obito, this person's coldness wasn't towards Naruto or Hinata... It was towards himself.

"_His soul, and his mind..._" Naruto frowned thoughtfully while speaking to himself inwardly. "_... This guy is also at war. Thre's a war inside him... And he is just as lost about his as I am about mine._"

"I appreciate your concern, Naruto. Sadly, there is no time for this right now... There is a reason why I need you to come with me, and not just any random reason."

"Tch!" Naruto shook his head. "_What's up with people with high ranks and masks? It's almost as if the more power you get, the less you want people to know who you are... Haku... That Obito guy... This ANBU... Even Kakashi-sensei, in a way..._" He thought bitterly. Afterwards, he sighed and rubbed his neck annoyedly. He was NOT looking forward for that...

"Whatever. Say the reason then..."

"A little while ago, and ANBU squad came back from a mission that took place in Amegakure."

"Hidden Rain? But... Isn't that...?" Hinata frowned. Naruto started to feel like he really needed to spend more time with her. The fact that her face could produce such expressions was catching him off guard. She looked at him, and he only found out seconds later, as he was lost in her eyes, trying to figure them out.

"Oh! Uh, yeah. That's supposed to be where the Akatsuki came from. Anyway... What about it?" He felt his face a bit warm... For who-knows-what time ever since Hinata got there.

"Well, such ANBU squad happens to be MY squad. We found a particularly familiar woman there... She was injured fatally, and the only thing she managed to say was a man's name." The ANBU turned on his feet and with a hand sign, requested them to follow him. "Your name to be specific."

"Naruto-kun's name? But you don't know anybody from Amegakure, do you?" She looked at him yet again, and he started to think that he was enjoying it way too much.

"Not that I remember of..." And then, just then, as the ANBU's footsteps got further away from him, and as the night wind caressed his face softly, the memory of the whole reason why his perception of Hinata had begun to change. The memory of an attack on his village, and of the attackers. A man and a woman from Amegakure...

"Where in the HELL is Shizune...? I need sedatives right NOW!" A blond, hot-headed woman yelled frustrated as she used her hands and greenish chakra to stop another woman's bleeding. They were on a relatively large Hospital room, though due to the lateness of the event, pretty much everything but that room was shrouded in darkness. It was about to be midnight. Despite the fact that Hospitals are commonly known (or popular) for their "whiteness", especially on their beds and walls, the room in which the blond woman was healing the other was getting more and more dyed in red, as consequence of the blood coming out endlessly from the patient.

"She's seconds away from here, Godaime." A voice said from no where in particular. Used as the Godaime Hokage was with flashy, stealthy and "out-of-nowherely" appereances (especially with shinobi), her focus on the patient was not lost. She did give a fast gaze to the room's door's threshold, as in the middle of it an adult figure appeared in a cloak and wearing a mask.

"Sekai?" She asked, as she pushed into the wound harder. "Wait, if you're here, then that means..."

But before she could even end the phrase, yet another hot-headed blond (male this time) made his way inside the room, rising his voice as loudly as the Godaime had done before him.

"What in the HELL is going on around here...? Oi!" He glared at the ANBU, while the Hokage found herself near losing focus as soon as she realized just who it was the one holding the blonde youngster's hand. "...You said it was a fatal injure, but this is nothing like it! She's frikin' dying, man!"

"Naruto, shut your damn trap!" Hokage said irritated slightly. "Get your ass here and start being helpful... I'm going to run out of chakra soon, and there's no way I'm going to ask Saku-... Er..." She caught Naruto's small but definitely noticeable vein itching in his forehead and felt a sudden danger. "... By the way, Hinata, is that you?"

"H-Hai!" The woman holding Naruto's hand said, red on her cheeks (which made her look incredibly cute) "I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama, I see that I am interrupting you..."

"Baka. Don't you dare let go of my hand, you hear me?" Naruto said frowning a bit, apparently with no reason (apparently). He stood behind Tsunade's back, and put his other hand in her shoulder, while Hinata looked down for a bit and chuckled childishly at Naruto's last comment. As she felt the warmth and the energy of the Uzumaki's chakra feeding her own, Tsunade's expression in her face went slightly nostalgic and motherly.

"_So he has begun to move on, huh? Sakura is not going to like it one bit._" She thought happily. As Naruto finished his job, Tsunade went back to her aggressive, medic self and pushed her Medical Ninjutsu with more strenght in the wound. A woman's voice was heard throughout the outside corridor.

"Tsunade-sama...!"

"Well, it was about DAMN time." Tsunade sighed in relief as the black-haired, slender and attractive apprentice of hers made her way inside the room to join the fray. She held several small, black vials with a few drops of some liquid inside them inside her hands.

"Shizune, where in the love of these large breasts of mine were you? If this brat doesn't get here, this woman dies...!" Tsunade said as she struggled still, ignoring Naruto's "hey, whaddaya mean "brat" old hag?" comment (fortunately for him, that is). Shizune hurried up and opened a tiny one of those vals, after which she gently and slowly opened the patient's mouth and readied to spill the vial's content.

"I wasn't able to find any sedatives strong enough... Apparently, they got all crushed in the invasion, and with the war happening right after, we really didn't have the time to re-stock... I was forced to make one sedative by myself, and split it in small rations. It should be enough to put an elephant or two to sleep, though. Only a tiny one."

"I see. Brilliant job. Sorry for yelling at you." Tsunade said, and that earned Shizune's quick smile. The crowd's whole attention was shifted to the patient, though, as she coughed up some blood and struggled to talk.

"What the...?" Tsunade and Shizune snapped. The latter frowned.

"Don't move and stay down! What do you think you're playing at, moving around in such condition...? 'Taku!" The black-haired woman also pushed the blood in with her medical chakra, though the patient didn't seem to listen to her. She was too determined to talk.

"Wait... W-wait... There's no need... To waste more time in me... I just need to..."

"...To shut up and lay down. That's what you need. You must have a death wish to come and tell a medical ninja what she's supposed to do or don't. Now, if you'll excuse me...?" Tsunade forced her to lay down with only her finger. The patient was still struggling though.

"Stubborn girl, huh?"

"I need to speak to Naruto...!" She exclaimed in a painful voice. There was a moment of silence that lasted for several seconds. The medical nins looked at each other, while Hinata and Naruto did the same and the ANBU merely laid against the wall. Naruto frowned.

"Konan, right? Is that your name?"

The woman, whose blue hair was slightly red due to blood, and whose usually pretty face was showing pain and agony, nodded with an incredibly slow motion. Her orange eyes were almost fading out every second that she remained conscious. Naruto shook his head.

"Whatever it is you need to tell me, keep it to yourself until you're healed."

"No...! There is no time... Madara... He...!" But she started coughing blood again before she could end th sentence.

"You don't understand. Probably because you were injured and unconscious the whole time..." Sekai, the ANBU said. Everybody looked at him. "... The war is over, as Naruto would be very happy to tell you."

"What...?!" Konan's eyes widened, she looked at Tsunade and then at Naruto. It seemed as though she was fearing the purpose of staying alive had just been rendered useless, but then her fire was sort of rekindled, and she shook her head.

"That's great... But this is not just about the war... Please...!"

"Konan." Naruto said firmly and with stern voice (Tsunade felt a tiny drop of sweat falling over her back, as she had only a few times listening to Naruto in that mood). "I don't know if it is that you ignore the characteristics of the war, but anyway... I have had enough of dead people talking to me. If you need to say something and if you think it's so important that you can't wait to say it, then use that strength to stay alive. I'm not gonna hear anything from you in this state. So shut your trap."

Konan looked at him for several seconds, and then she smiled in the same way as a child who had just been forgiven for his mistakes would. She closed her eyes and whispered a low "okay", after which Shizune poured the few sedative drops inside her mouth. Konan's body somehow seemed a bit more relaxed later on. Silence fell amongst the crowd in the room, as the night wind blew through the open window. Tsunade and Shizune began closing the wound with their medical skills, until the bleeding was stopped completely and the wound was no more: Konan's stomach had returned to normal. Her skin colour slowly came back, and the only thing that could be heard after hours of medical care, was Konan's peaceful breathing.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. I was about to take you on a date or something, and ended up bringing you to a Hospital to do these things..."

Shizune, Tsunade and Hinata all looked at Naruto (the first two, whose faces were directed to Konan, turned their heads at the blond jiinchuuriki with such speed that their necks got hurt in the process). The Hyuuga heiress, flustered but evidently happy and flattered, shook her head (she had never let go of Naruto's hand, which to Tsunade was a sign of something much more surprising that the fact that Hinata was there to begin with).

"Um... It's okay, Naruto-kun. To me, even if it was a strange one, this was a _date_... The first one, actually." She said, caressing Naruto's hand with her own hand's fingers in a childish way. Naruto chuckled and then smiled at her with that foxy, bratty smile of his, which made Tsunade want to smile too.

"Is that so? It was my first "date" too! And it was with _you_, of all people. Talk about weird..." He said. Tsunade contained (with great effort) her desire to punch him in the head after he said that. "_What do you mean "weird", you dimwit? Now she's going to feel awful! You ruined it!_" she thought, as Hinata's expression showed a slight hint of disappointment.

"...But..." Naruto played with the Hyuuga's hand in an also bratty, yet cute way. "... I really liked it. I wouldn't have wanted it in any other way. I'm glad you're here, Hinata." He pulled the white-eyed woman towards him gently, and kissed her on her cheek shortly. What happened afterwards was so fast that Tsunade felt a bit dizzy. First, Shizune and her looked at each other exchanging surprised reactions to Naruto's understanding of a woman's feelings (or perhaps his luck at nailing the right spot this time). And then, while both women expected Hinata to blush violently and faint, they were yet again surprised by the fact that she chuckled and tried to kiss Naruto in his cheek as well... Only she failed to aim at his cheek. Her clothes (she was still dressed for a wedding, unlike Tsunade or Shizune) were definitely not made for being in a hurry or making fast movements, and though she probably wanted to surprise Naruto with a kiss as much as he had done with her, she wasn't fast enough to do it. Her kiss ended up in Naruto's lips.

Tsunade, right after seeing this (and this is when everything got fast as lightning) was torn between her mysterious jelousy (perhaps motherly jelousy, or elder sisterly) and her joy of actually seeing Naruto acting romantically with another girl. Before she could decide anything, though, Hinata and Naruto broke up. Well, more like Hinata backed off as she could, evidently embarrassed for her actions.

"N-Naruto-kun!... Uhhh...! I'm... I'm sorry!" She was NOW blushing violently, and Tsunade was about to either kill her or hug her. She couldn't make her mind up.

"What are you doing...?" Naruto touched his lips for a second, and then smiled. "It's not like I hated it. If you think you can kiss me, then how about you stop adding "-kun" to my name? At least that way, when I kiss you, I will feel less like a stranger."

"Oi! You two!" Tsunade said loudly, her forehead's vein itching dangerously (though she was trying her best not to smile). " 'The hell you think you're doing on an injured person's room? Not the time! Go home and come back tomorrow. She'll be able to talk by then. Is that understood?!"

"H-hai!" Hinata said right away, and Naruto merely whispered a lazy "whatever".

"What was that, brat?"

"I said _whatever_, old hag. You deaf or something? Guess it comes with age, huh?"

Both blonds stared at each other, smirking defiantly with more veins itching. Shizune sighed in resignation and put herself between the two.

"Tsunade-sama, please set an example for your own words. There is an injured woman here. Naruto-kun, please go home."

Both blonds then turned on their feet, letting out a loud "hmph" annoyedly, and walked opposite ways. Shizune chuckled lowly, though, as she was able to identify Tsunade's hidden smile, as well as Naruto's. The black-haired apprentice faced the ANBU.

"Sekai-senpai. Could you please...?"

"Forget it. I'm walking Hinata home. At least give us some privacy, will you?" Naruto said calmly as he walked with Hinata towards the door. Sekai nodded and stepped aside to give them room. Without further ado (although Hinata did wave Shizune good-bye in a noble-like fashion), the two Konoha rookies were gone. Tsunade waited for some minutes until their footsteps were gone, and bursted into laughter.

"For Kami's sake, can you believe it? He was actually all cool and sweet with the girl...!" She shook her head, and began picking up the bloody bandages, and cleaning the room with Shizune's help. The latter laughed as well.

"I admit this is a huge surprise, almost more than the wedding was. I hope no one sees them, though! It's too soon for them to begin living the experience of a Shinobi couple. Sakura and Sasuke are still being chased by news-papers and whatnot..."

"I agree... Plus, the brat hasn't got over Sakura yet. Hinata needs to break that huge barrier before actually making it... Before being his girlfriend."

"I'm sorry... Did I hear right? Haruno married the Uchiha?" Sekai asked from the threshold. Both women looked at him.

"Oh, that's right. Sekai you were on mission, so you wouldn't know... Yes, she married Sasuke. Today. And quite the wedding it was..." Tsunade sighed, proud of her pink-haired, also hot-headed apprentice.

"But... Why? Wasn't Naruto the one who...?"

"I know, right? But what _is_there to do? You of all people should already know the likes of a woman's heart's whims, shouldn't you, Sekai?"

The ANBU folded his arms and snorted (albeit painfully).

"Sorry. Don't know what you're talking about."

Tsunade chuckled. "_Right, of course you don't._"

After half an hour of the three ninjas cleaning and tidying the room, while Konan slept peacefully in her bed, Tsunade sat on the bed opposite to Konan's, accompanied by Shizune. Sekai returned to his laying against the wall fashion.

"So..." Tsunade tucked her hair behind her ear and became serious. "... Tell me more about the mission. You said she mentioned the existance of another Rinnegan...?

To be continued...


	3. That Night

III. That Night...

"_Oh shit... Oh shit... Oh shit..._" Naruto kept thinking as he and Hinata walked down the street, past several bars that usually opened till late, and that were actually closing early due to it being Sunday. Slow business. They had had a very rough time trying to avoid the main bars, though. Many people from Konoha had been at the wedding, and even more people still would be going to the after party (Kakashi, Yamato, Ino and Chouji being confirmed by merely the sake of it), which meant that should the both of them run into them... Especially in a wedding mood... All sorts of gossip and teasing would be pending for the Hyuuga and the Uzumaki. Still, even after being miraculously able to avoid them, Naruto was still struggling inside. Forget the war he had before. This one battle was getting particularly messy.

"_Oh shit, oh shit... I was too nice... Or was I? Damn! And even in front of Tsunade-baachan... This is disgraceful, now she's gonna have it with me all the time. Oh shit... And more importantly, we kissed. Like, KISSED! shit, shit, shit... Neji would surely kill me if I was alive. Perhaps now he's just laughing on the afterlife, the bastard... What should I do...? Is she gonna think that I'm asking her to be my girlfriend? How do you even ask for that? Shiiiiiit...!_"

Similarly, while he was somehow trying to get a glimpse of Hinata's expression as they walked beside each other towards the Hyuuga mansion, the young woman herself was (unbeknownst to the blond man) submerged in pretty much the same dilemma.

"_Oh shit... Oh shit... Oh shit..._" She tried her best not to look at Naruto in the eyes. She knew full well that one look and one look alone would be enough for her to lose it and start running away. "_... Oh shit... I kissed him. My first kiss! And his, too! Well there was this time with Sasuke-kun, I heard... Yeah, but I'm a girl! His first kiss_ **with a girl**... _Or is it? Has he kissed Sakura-san before? Or Ino? Or Ten-Ten? Or...? Agh! What am I thinking? Why in the world would he kiss them? Aren't I the one who knows him the most? Wait... No I'm not! It's probably Sakura-san... So she kissed him, the tomboy whore?!_!"

She tried to look at him once, and her heart almost jumped all the way out from her mouth as her eyes found his. Once this happened, both Naruto and her let out a tiny, faint yell of nervousness, and looked away. Which was curious. They had enough confidence to hold hands for hours, yet not enough to look at each other after one kiss.

"_Oh shit..._" Hinata touched her lips with her fingers and then tasted her lipstick's flavor. It was kind of similar to strawberry and maybe apple. "_... Shit! Does he like apples? Maybe I should have looked for a lipstick with Ramen flavour... Agh! Don't be stupid, how disgusting would that be? He's not a ramen freak...! Okay, not that much! He's gonna think I'm a bitch. Just kissing him as if I didn't care about his own personal space... He's gonna think I don't care about impressions... Oh shit!_"

On the other side of the matter, Naruto rubbed his head and spiky yellow hair, and snapped his tongue loudly.

"_She's gonna think I didn't like it if I keep going on like this... But if I say I did, maybe she's gonna think that I usually kiss or let myself be kissed by anybody! Does she know about that one time with Sasuke? AGH! Don't even remember that! Gross! Gross!_" He shook his head strongly.

But then, right then, his mind mentioning Sasuke one time was enough for him to have mental pictures of him and Sakura at the wedding. Sharing a kiss. Putting rings on each other's fingers. Sharing speeches towards each other. Having their first dance. His own, painful and completely lame Best Man Speech. Ino's Bridesmaid Speech... The prospect of a Honeymoon... And obviously, that very night the both of them would share a roof. Sasuke's. Also, they would share a room. A bed... And much, much more.

His face somehow lost all traces of childishness and joy. He was thankful that Kurama wouldn't wake up, despite the fact that he was making a lot of noise about his "human nonsense". Also, although he didn't notice it, his grip over Hinata's hand was tightened unintentionally. Hinata looked at her hand and his after this, and then at him. To her surprise and also fear, his eyes had lost their brightness, and he looked considerably upset.

"_What the...? Could it be that he really was annoyed by our kiss...? No... No, this is different. He doesn't get this upset over small things... Maybe...? Did he remember Sakura-san?_"

Hinata also frowned at the thought of the pink-haired medical ninja. She didn't hate her, but it was something that she really found irritating... The fact that, despite it obviously being Sakura's important day, she didn't have it into her to take at least one moment in the wedding ceremony to thank him properly. To mention him in at least some way, even an indirect way. After all, the reason she was even marrying Sasuke was Naruto. Okay, yes, probably every single person knew that. Maybe most of those who were and still are close to Team 7 already knew what kind of effort did Sakura put Naruto through. Whether it was uncounciously or willingly, she did put him under that responsibility. And it wasn't like she had done something to repay him... But Hinata had tried to stop herself from believing or thinking these kind of things. One thing Neji had taught her, was how immature it was to be fast to judge those people who we think are hurting one's feelings willingly. It was true, of course, that she had not much of a close relationship with Sakura at all. Whatever she might be thinking about her, could be wrong easily... One's judgements, especially from far away of the whole situation, tend to be wrong.

But the truth remained unchanged. Naruto was hurt. And she was seeing it with her own eyes... She and probably everybody else had, back at the wedding and even before that. He was deeply hurt...

"Naruto-kun..." She called him lowly. He didn't answer. His expression was quite grim. She then called his name again while squeezing his hand once. Only then he sort of woke up from his trance, and looked at her. She felt like throwing herself to him and hug him as strongly as possible as soon as she saw his eyes fading away.

"Oh..." He chuckled nervously. "... I'm sorry Hinata. I was lost there for a sec. Were you trying to tell me something...?"

"N-no... I just... I think I know what you were thinking. And the reason you were "lost"." Hinata felt Naruto's grip on her hand soften. He looked forward, smiling... Or faking a smile.

"Is that so? What's that...? Please don't say it's because of that teme of Sasuke and Saku-..." But before he could even finish the sentence, Hinata had pulled him gently towards her and had sealed his lips with hers. She forgot about her fears, about her insecurity and let the rage and frustration felt towards Sakura's actions and Naruto's hurt heart transform into more strength, and more love. She loved Naruto dearly, and there was no hiding it. But each time he was hurt, she loved him even more. Because, in a similar way to her, he would never say he was hurt. He would endure it stupidly, as if he thought the rest of the world expected him to be like the cold blade of a Katana. Emotionless, expressionless and deadly. Knowing that he was like her in that aspect, was the same as saying that he could understand her own pain... And was the same as saying that she was no longer alone.

From Naruto's side, in fact, Hinata had no idea how right she was. As soon as he felt her lips on his, he was more than willing to kiss her back and hug her. He did. Wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her towards him as strongly as it was physically possible. He felt a warm, liquid thing coming out of his eyes, and he knew he was about to be embarrassed as never before. But there was not much he could do about it. Those tears were just one percent of the actual tears he wanted to shed. Hinata wrapped her hands around his neck and stopped the kiss gently. She was about to speak, and Naruto knew she meant to say his name. He put his index finger in her lips to shush her.

"Not _Naruto-kun_. I told you. If you're confident enough to kiss me, please call me Naruto." He said. She nodded right away and put her hand on his cheek, while whiping out one of his rebellious tears. "Oh... Uh... Sorry. Dust in my eye, you know..."

"No... Please don't lie to me." Hinata said, frowning slightly. "...It took me years and many, many, many guts to bring myself to kiss you, or even talk to you. I... You know I'm not usually like this. Don't... Please don't answer me with lies, even if they're small, even if you're trying to act tough, or even if you don't want me to worry. I don't want that. You can trust me. You can tell me anything... I want... I need to be here for you. I need you."

"Hinata..." Naruto's eyes widened. But before he could say anything else, or before Hinata could interrupt him with another kiss or hug, there was a familar voice being heard from not too far away.

"Okay, call me stupid or whatever..." The voice said. "...But I definitely _saw_Naruto and Hinata together. Bro, I swear! They were, like, holding hands and shit!"

"_Well, fuck._" Naruto (and even Hinata) thought bitterly. It wasn't like they were embarrassed of being with each other. At all. More like they just didn't want people making an uproar about the two of them being the way they were. "_By the way... After this... What _**are** _we?_" Naruto said to himself and his mind. Shaking his head, he felt the familiar voice (which by the way belonged to Inuzuka Kiba) getting closer, and another voice answering the first one.

"And I'm _telling_ you, Naruto wouldn't do _anything_like that. He'd feel that he's stealing people's attention from Sasuke's wedding and whatnot. And Hinata would, like, have a heart attack if she was holding hands with him for more than five minutes, anyway..." Nara Shikamaru's voice said lazily. Naruto reacted as expected from a ninja, and hid himself and Hinata on the closest, narrowest alley he could find. By the time he had done so, and only seconds later, both Kiba and Shikamaru (still wearing their noble Clan's tunics), followed closely by a sniffing Akamaru, stopped and talked with each other right where the Uzumaki and the Hyuuga had been before.

"Nah, bro, she's changed. Didn't you see her at the war? Fighting all high and mighty, and stuff? She's into him, and she's not the same lameass, shy as hell, weirdo girl she was before. Now she's actually got guts and everything. You can tell by her smell and her fighting style. And Naruto is kind of in the mood to get over Sakura, if you know what I mean by that...?"

Kiba played with his eyebrows and wiked at Shikamaru, who apparently had a hard time figuring out if he wanted to burst in laughter or punch Kiba in the head (Naruto knew because he felt the same).

"That's disgusting, Kiba. But yeah, I agree he could use some getting-over-Sakura kind of thing..."

"See? I'm sure he's got her!"

"Nah, no way. He's not got it into him. I mean, he's a pervert and stuff, but he would never do that to anybody, least of all Hinata. Mainly because he knows how much it hurts to be used, you see..." Shikamaru lit up a cigarette, a habit he had returned to after his father's death. Naruto's forehead vein itched at the mention of him being a pervert, though he could swear Hinata had chuckled at least once. After this, he suddenly and without no reason, felt her breasts being pressed against his chest due to the fact that the alley was quite narrow. The situation was getting funnier, more frustrating, more shocking and surprising by the second.

"Yeah, sure. But he's a man, though. He'll feel the need eventually, and why would it be wrong...?" Kiba kept replying, though by this time, they had already kept going forward. Hinata and Naruto let out a sigh of relief, until their ears caught a loud "WOOF!" that almost made them have a heart attack. They looked down.

"A-Akamaru...?!" Both of them whispered surprised, as they saw the white, large dog sniffing them out and gasping happily as he recognized them. The blond and the black-haired looked at each other, mentally asking each other what in the world should they do then, as Akamaru's words were only understood by Kiba, and the dog was just way too loyal to him to keep any sort of secrets.

"Uhhh..." Naruto tried stroking him, which apparently made the dog happier. "... What a good dog... I'm sure you're a smart dog, right Akamaru? You won't go telling Kiba any funny things?"

"Y-yeah, he's a smart dog, aren't you, Akamaru-chan!" Hinata said nervously, trying to do as Naruto did.

Akamaru merely answered with two "woofs" that were neither a "yes" nor a "no", and left running all of a sudden, before any of the young shinobi could say anything. Naruto cursed, frustrated. "_What the hell? We get talking frogs, apes, slugs and snakes, and we can't get a talking dog? There's something wrong with this world._"

From afar, yet again, Kiba's voice was heard as he played with Akamaru.

"Oh, there you are, boy! Gooooood boy, good boy! Where were you, bro? Been sniffing out some food or anything? Oneesan will kill me if you eat anything funny you know! Plus, your crap will smell worse than it should..."

"Again, that's disgusting Kiba." Shikamaru answered once more, though Kiba wasn't listening. Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, terrified. Four, maybe five seconds of silence, and then Kiba bursted in laughter.

"He's saying that he was indeed sniffing some food out, and then he found Naruto and Hinata on an alley hugging each other and-... WHAT?!"

"_Fuck!_" Naruto reacted quickly again, and carried Hinata on a newlywed fashion (she let out a small yell of surprise, flustered), after which he would jump with remarkable agility from the wall of the frontal building to the wall of the building behind, zig-zagging in the air between jumps, until he reached the rooftop. Once there, he rushed towards the only place his mind had enough time to tell him...

"You don't need to do it, I can walk."

"Come on, let me at least fulfill my role, will you?"

"Okaaaaaaay, but only until the entrance door."

"Nope. All the way to my room."

"No fair! It's embarrassing, plus, you're tired!"

"Yeah, speak for yourself. You're more tired than I could possibly be, dummy."

" 'Taku. So stubborn. Why is it that you are so stubborn?"

"But you love me that way, right?"

"Haha, yeah. Keep talking."

Somehow, the one who was told to be stubborn managed to open the door to one of the many houses on that neighbourhood. Sasuke didn't seem to mind at all, carrying Sakura in a traditional, newlywed way while opening his old house with his foot. Sakura, whose childish expression of disagreement (inflating her cheek and gazing away, though blushing as much as it was humanly possible) was probably just making Sasuke grin, felt her stomach betray her in more than one occasion.

"_So this is it... This is Sasuke's house... I can't believe I finally made it..._" She felt about to cry, but held the tears back and smiled, feeling heppier than ever before. Sasuke, who seemed to be as much as happy himself, merely gazed at the house from time to time. It had been a month since he had gotten there, and he had a bit of a rough time restoring the whole house to its original state (since after years of not no one living there, everything could get rusty). But now, he was satisfied to find that he had a place to take Sakura to, a place to live in.

"_At what cost, though?_" His only revealed eye closed for a moment, while he pictured Naruto in his head and tried to not ignore the jiinchuuriki's feelings and putting his happiness due to the wedding as an excuse for that. He was sure of one thing: if there was anything he had been to everybody in Konoha before, it was selfish. And the fact that even now, after being forgiven and given a chance by everybody, he was still selfishly marrying the one woman his best friend/brother loved the most, made him feel a strong sense of guilt.

He wouldn't ever regret marrying Sakura. He loved her. His love for her was real, even though he had to fight many fatal fights to be able to retain it. Nobody on his right mind would give such pure love up, not from a woman like that. Not from a woman that not only waited, but also fought for making him come back despite the fact that he had gone as low as to try to kill her...

... But again, at what cost?

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura had called. Sasuke woke up from his small trance. They were already on his room. Sasuke let Sakura sit on his bed (tried his best not to ruin her beautiful Kimono while at it), and smirked quite arrogantly (it did seem that any smile coming from his mouth would make him look arrogant) while poking Sakura on her forehead with his fingers, trying to imitate his late brother.

"Sakura, how much longer do you plan on calling me "_Sasuke-kun_"? We're married now, you know."

"Tee-heeh, sorry." Sakura said, chukling and showing her tongue childishly. She took Sasuke's hand from her forehead and put it on her cheek, after which she just sighed happily. "You're so warm..."

"Am I?" Sasuke sighed happily as well, and kissed her forehead. "I somehow think that you are the warm one of us two."

"Mattaku..." Sakura's kiddie expression of anger came back. "... Always arguing with me. So annoying."

"Oh, is that so? So what if I just go...?" Sasuke (who inside was laughing, but outside made a serious expression) turned on his feet and made to go away from the room, feigning being upset. He immediatly felt Sakura's hand pulling his arm back to her with more strength than was necessary. The result to this was neither on Sasuke's plan to make her go even madder nor on Sakura's plan to just make him come back. The result was Sasuke (overpowered by Sakura's now natural strength) falling in his bed (as he wasn't really resisting anyway) and Sakura, due to inertia, being thrown over Sasuke.

The Uchiha, who didn't really mind, merely laughed lowly while staring at Sakura with his black, deep eye. Sakura blushed and realized Sasuke's previous intentions, frowning afterwards.

"Ugh, you're such a devil..." She undid the frown and before Sasuke could reply, sealed his lips with hers. Sasuke caressed her back while she did the same with his face and chest. Their kiss went deeper by the second, and after a minute had passed, they stopped. The only source of light being the full moon shining through Sasuke's room's window. Sakura laid her head on Sasuke's chest, and began running her fingers over his right pectoral, making circles. Sasuke in turn, laid on his bed (some pillows below his head) and played with Sakura's hair. Silence. For several minutes... Or hours...

"Sasuke...?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Are you happy?"

"Haha, what? Of course I'm happy, bakka..." Sasuke said looking at her.

"Then why have you been so... Thoughtful?" She was looking back at him, clearly worried but trying not to show it. "Somehow, it feels like you're having second thoughts..."

"Is that what it seems?" Sasuke smiled guiltily, and then asked Sakura to lay her head in front of his, at the other side of the bed. "I'm sorry. I _was_thinking, yeah... But not having second thoughts. At all."

Sakura, who seemed incredibly relieved, sighed and kissed his lips shortly.

"Then, what were you thinking?"

"Naruto..."

Silence. Dead silence fell over them both. Even the wind (which had been blowing lively up until then) had died away, and the moon had started being covered by clouds slowly. Sakura's mind went completely blank for a couple of seconds... And then she felt close to tears again.

"Oh my God... You're right!" She covered her mouth, her eyes terrified of herself, while Sasuke (who apparently had been expecting such reaction), merely hugged her in response. Pulled her against him. "I can't believe I...! I didn't even...! Not even once! And he did the Best Man's Speech regardless... This is so...! This won't do. This won't do at all... At all!"

"There you are... Overreacting again." Sasuke shook his head. "Listen... Calm down. Listen to me." He put his hand on Sakura's cheek and forced to look at his eyes. "I know how you feel. This is how I've been feeling before the wedding was even planned. I... Had a talk with him already..."

Sakura's eyes widened again.

"What did he say?!" She said quickly. Sasuke shook his head again. "...What?"

"He won't admit it."

"You mean he won't admit that he...?"

"Yeah." Sasuke sighed. "But it's not like I can blame him. I would have probably done the same thing on his position. We hate people looking at us with eyes full of pity. Pity doesn't make us feel any better... And it certainly doesn't solve the source of our suffering. Somehow, my guess is that he was thinking that admitting his feelings would make him look weaker than he is. And even worse, if he did it in front of _me_, he wouldn't forgive himself... Ever. It's like, the ultimate display of weakness and humilliation in his opinion... You don't show that to your rival, now, do you?"

"No... You're right." Sakura had a quick mental picture of Ino.

"...Plus, there's also the fact that... Well. He _does_ love you, and he doesn't want us to be worrying about him on the day of our wedding... I mean, _the_Naruto that loves the both of us wouldn't want that. The Naruto that cares for his own wishes... I don't know. He never really lets that one out."

"He's so stupid. You both are. Being so proud, so stubborn... 'Taku... Making me worry all the time for these things..."

"We're men, Sakura." Sasuke smiled. "Saying that out pride and our stubborness is stupid would be as meaningless as us men saying you women are stupid because you like to spend a hundred years looking at the mirror. But for you there's probably a strong reason behind it, right?"

"And what would be the strong reason behind Naruto hiding his feelings? Or not talking to you, or, hell, even ME?"

"In my case, he doesn't talk to me due to rivalry. In yours... Well... Think about it." Sasuke stared at the ceiling, thoughfully. "What would _you_do? If he all of a sudden said that he loved you? How would you react, and more importantly, what would you say? That is, knowing full well that you don't want him to feel hurt."

Sakura stared at the ceiling as well, and gave it a thought for several seconds. As Sasuke said, she found no response.

"I wouldn't know what to say. Actually, more than that, I don't think there even _is_anything to say..."

"_Exactly_." Sasuke closed his eye. "For now, the only thing we can do is enjoy the happiness we have found _because_ of him. Even if it pains me greatly to say it so selfishly... He _did_fight for this to happen. For us to be able to do this..." He turned to Sakura and kissed her gently, while holding her hand. Sakura returned his kiss in a more passionate way. This kiss was just as long as the first one, and carried with it stronger and deeper feelings.

At a certain point, Sasuke couln't see the difference between a fight of tongues and what he was having with Sakura. Their kiss had gotten so serious that Sakura had gone all the way to scratching his back. Her nails, though not as sharp as claws, were strong and long enough to tear his robe apart (which he didn't want). Thus, he removed it as fast as his need to keep kissing Sakura let him. The latter helped him remove it right then and there, and continued to scratch his back and neck.

Sasuke moved fast and strongly, making it so that he was facing up and Sakura down. She was on him. He was _now_ the one with his hands on her back. While making out, the Uchiha unleashed Haruno's obi carefully (quite the impressive feat, seeing as their animal instincts had already aweakened) , and started removing her Kimono as gently as it was possible during their current situation. Sakura helped him out as well this time, and threw the _very_ expensive dress away from the bed, revealing both a small, white, silky blouse (that acted as intermediary between the Kimono and her breasts and stomach) and a thin (_way too thin_) thong "covering" her femininity.  
Sasuke rose his eyebrow while smirking.

"Now, what do we have here...?"

"Shut up. No seeing if there is no giving." Sakura said, smiling but making a firm Tsunade-like expression. She removed Sasuke's pants and left him on his underwear (black). His strong and resistant legs were exposed, while his abs were also a remarkable attention caller. Sakura felt like burning, but then Sasuke (with his hands on her back) pulled her back to him and kissed her. At this moment, there was a strong contact between the Uchiha's hidden penis, and Sakura's sex. Even though clothes were still getting in the way, underwear was usually tight enough for them to be able to feel each other. While kissing, a lot of grinding took place, and as it is implied, Sakura's moans grew stronger each time Sasuke became more erect. Yet, none of them had taken the next step of removing each other's last piece of clothing.

That was the first time they had had this sort of contact with anybody, and though hunger was considerably strong, nervousness was also a force to be reckoned with. Needless to say, they were also young and poorly trained in these aspects. In Sakura's part, her parents were just way too perverted to speak to (they would give a very awkward wink to each other whilst talking to their daughter about the matter) and in Sasuke's part... Well, by the time he was old enough to care about sex, he was way too submerged in hatred against Itachi. And should the thought of sex even cross his mind, his only "mentors" would have been Orochimaru and Kabuto... The mere mentioning of their names was an automatic "NO, HELL NO" inside his mind.

That being said, and be that as it may, Sasuke and Sakura seemed just too excited to let the hunger go.

Sakura imitated Sasuke's previous whim and made it so that now _she_was the one facing up and him down. She pulled his head towards her and kissed/bit his neck while he did the same with hers as he could. Both tried to feel every single inch of each other's skin with their hands. Exploring, playing, scratching, rubbing, kissing, biting, tasting, pulling, even slapping (yes, Sasuke and Sakura liked slapping apparently).

Half an hour later, after countless toying and fooling around, Sasuke and Sakura were panting loudly and still grinding each others sex. Sakura put her hand on Sasuke's hidden left eye... And started to remove the eye patch.

"W-wait..."

"No... Let me... I want BOTH of your eyes..." She didn't even need to ask again. Sasuke merely let the eye patch fall to the bed and his hair, because of the fact that he was facing down, was no longer covering his eye. No scars. No injuries. No different color. Nothing. A normal, black and beautiful deep eye.

"Why...?"

"My left eye... Itachi's... Its Sharingan is slightly stronger. Amaterasu might just unleash out of nowhere-..." But Sakura shushed him with a kiss and wrapped her naked legs around his waist to make his sex grind on hers. Afterwards, Sasuke bit Sakura's blouse and removed it in one furious motion, consumed by hunger and lust. Sakura's breasts weren't big, more like normal and "young" in a manner of speaking. He didn't care. Not only did she compensate it with nice, round and beautiful hips, and legs, but also with her long, curvy legs. As he had done with the blouse, and before Sakura could even feel embarrassed due to him staring at her, Sasuke went for her thong.

"W-wait...!"

But he didn't listen to her, and bit the thong off, removing it as well. There she was... Naked. Completely naked. To be fair, Sasuke removed his underwear as well and revealed to be completely erect. Sakura (whose eyes knew full well where to go) felt both scared and curious to know how would it feel to have "_that_" inside her.

"W-wow... Sasuke... Does it hurt?" She asked, as she surrounded his penis with her hand. Sasuke moaned lowly, which Sakura found exciting. She then started to feel wetter than she had felt with all the grinding and fooling around they had had before.

"N-no... But it does kind of annoy me."

"How does it feel?" She stroke his penis slowly, looking at it closely and feeling it throbbing and its veins itching everytime she did.

"Come now, you're a medical ninja and you don't know...?"

"Careful, now. I'm too close to your balls and you know my strength, right?"

"I apologize for my rudeness. Please forgive me." Sasuke said almost automatically, which made Sakura not only stop the stroking but also smile devilly and face Sasuke with dangerous eyes.

"Huuuuuuuuuh? What was that...? I kind of like that polite and submissive Sasuke-kun..."

"Wh-what? Hey! Ch-ch-chotto matte!" Sasuke said as her stroking speed went higher and she grabbed his testicles softly as she did. "What's with that expression...?"

"Which expression?"

"Don't joke with me. Your face is clearly saying "I wonder what would happen if I threaten him with his balls again", isn't it...? AGH!"

Too late. Sakura, who was already applying a little strength to her grip over his balls, merely laughed. She kept stroking Sasuke faster and faster. Surprisingly enough, Sasuke's penis became even bigger by the time she felt like he was reaching the summit of his pleasure.

"I-idiot... You are _so_gonna pay for this..." Sasuke said, shivering with his sex being stimulated with such roughness yet delicacy. He was loving it (he was completely red), but at the same time it meant punishment for her.

"Am I?" Sakura asked mockingly, feeling Sasuke throbbing even more. Sasuke somehow found the strength to counter her strategy and broke free from her grip. Afterwards, he conveniently found his eye patch laying on his bed, and used it to tie Sakura's hands against the bedside swiftly.

"What the...? What are you doing?!"

"I _did _say you were gonna pay, didn't I?"

As soon as her hands were tied, he laughed evilly and began kissing her... Or rather, running his tongue over every single inch of her body. Neck first, then lips (which he also bit), and then slowly going down. Neck again. Shoulders. Chest. Breasts. Nipples (at which point he sucked them and bit them at the same time). Belly. Waist. Both legs all the way to her fingers. Back up to her belly... And then he got serious...

"Sasuke... Don't..."

But he didn't listen, and he kept going down slowly. Sakura was shaven, though a small, vertical trail of pink hair was visible right before her other lips. Sasuke licked his bottom lip, and proceeded to taste her small, tiny clit. At this point, all Sakura could do was shiver and roll around in pleasure. Nobody had ever done that to her, and the outcome of such experimentation was causing her to lose her mind already. Sasuke felt satisfied by her growing moaning, and so he stimulated the rest of her femininity with his fingers. Gently. He rubbed, inserted, and toyed around with its lips whilst licking and sucking her clit.

"S-Sasuke... SH-SHIT...!" Sakura's moans and panting became one, and now her speech pattern only knew her husband's name and several onomatopoeias. She was crying, though it was obvious it wasn't pain. It was lust. It was pleasure. As much as he had wanted to cry while she masturbated him mercilessly. Men do not cry at sex, though. It was their job (or so he thought) to make women cry due to pleasure.

After five minutes of torture, Sasuke untied Sakura and laughed at her flustered face. She kept panting and didn't seem to make her mind up between being angry at him or asking him if she could be his sex slave. All she could do, was spreading her legs open. Sasuke gulped a bit, and layed in such a way their faces were against each other. Taking advantage of the fact that she was considerably wet, Sasuke decided to come in. He put his penis inside, entering gently and allowing himself (and his wife) to have a taste of what adults usually spoke so little and yet made so much of a fuzz about. And after he was inside, he felt he understood why.

The sensation of being inside Sakura (and of having Sasuke inside, from her perspective) had completely erasen what little remained there of reasoning. All what mattered right then was each other's eyes and feelings. Hunger was still there.

"Did I hurt you...?"

"N-no... I mean, it did hurt... But it's weird..." Sakura panted. "... I can't describe it... It hurts, but I like it..."

" 'Taku... What does the Hokage teach you for Medical Skills?" Sasuke mocked her, and didn't give her any room to answer, as he started to move in and out. Sakura let out a tiny scream each time he penetrated her. The bed was also moving so much that he feared it was about to brake apart... He didn't care though. Nor did she. They kept the love making up, not wasting time and kissing each other, or biting, or licking, or sucking, or grabbing, or slapping (because of course, they like slapping). After several minutes of enjoying each other's body, Sasuke felt he was already reaching his climax.

"Inside..." Sakura managed to say somehow, as she also felt him about to come. She had already came herself, what with Sasuke's small revenge, and she was exhausted yet curious about how would it feel to have Sasuke's orgasm inside her. She was to restore his Clan, anyway. Being pregnant wasn't a "no". It wasn't like he needed any convincing, though. Sasuke continued moving his hips until, eventually, he gave in to ecstasy and let out his orgasm inside her.

Minutes later, after their gasping had ended and what remained was only their sweat and the messiest bed they had ever seen before, both looked at each other and kissed. Their strength leaving them (the outcome of dealing with a wedding and then make love), and the prospect of the first morning together made them whisper a weak "I love you" to each other, and fall asleep.

"AGHHHH! It's so messy, so messy, so messy, so messy!" Naruto ran all over the place, taking literal mountains of whatever it was laying on the floor (Ramen cups, bowls, eating-sticks, glasses and whatnot) and trying to get them out of the way. His bed wasn't messy at all, in fact, Hinata had first thought that it was the tidiest bed she had ever seen.

"_No, seriously... Not even I give that much importance to making my own bed at mornings. Maybe it's because he's not been sleeping here lately? I'd love to make it messier..._" By the time her thought had finished, she blushed. What she had just said inwardly had so much of a sexual meaning that she was glad Naruto didn't read minds. She chuckled, though, as she saw him really concerned about what would she think about his flat's messy state. He was too stubborn to give that one up, though, as he was with pretty much everything else.

On Naruto's side, a storm was raging inside his mind, and he was now seriously wondering where had Kurama went. He must have had one of Tsunade's sedatives if he was really that asleep. However, the truth remained unchanged. A girl was on his flat. A _girl_. And not just any girl. _Hinata_, of all people. And judging by the looks of the VERY intimate moments she and he had had up until mere minutes ago, he felt like his flat's untidiness was kind of a let down. In the past, no girl had even set foot on Naruto's threshold, other than...

... He dropped some clothes to the floor, frowning.

"_...Anyway, I need to hurry._" He took care of the remaining items on the floor and sat on his bed, beside Hinata. His noble tunic and her Kimono had had so much activity for that day that he felt like a shower was more than primordial. He then was haunted by the fear of being smelly... After all, Akamaru _did_find him by smell.

"_Nah, dogs' noses are more sensitive. That's why._"

"I'm sorry for that, I usually don't bring girls here... Shikamaru comes here oftenly, but of course he doesn't mind one bit."

"I don't mind either." Hinata said smiling. "My father is always after me because I'm also messy with my things, so..."

Naruto smiled.

"Are you hungry?"

"_Yes. I want to eat you._" Hinata found herself thinking. Seconds later, she swallowed that thought dry and replied with a shy "no".

"Are you sure?"

"_No I'm not. I want you now._" She thought again, though she merely nodded "yes" as a response.

"Ugh... That was a close one, with Kiba and Shikamaru. Damn..." Naruto rubbed his spiky hair as always, whenever flustered. "...Oh! Please don't get me wrong. I really like being with you. It's just, you know how they are..."

"Yeah, it's okay. I'm also fearing the same... And I also like being with you, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened for a bit, and then he blushed and chuckled, scratching his cheek.

"See? That's the first time you call me "_Naruto_"... Have you any idea how good that makes me feel?"

"Probably as good as I felt when I kissed you." Hinata said. Silence.

"_Crap. I _**did **_say that one._" She thought, scared. Both young shinobi looked at each other, and then shyly looked down, red on their cheeks. The flat was lit by a white lightbulb on the ceiling, and the window was open. Through it, wind was caressing both of their backs, and relaxing their tense, growing feelings.

"You know, before Kiba came... You were saying something important..." Naruto said, staring at the floor. Hinata looked at him, and then back at the floor.

"Um... Yes. Well we had just kissed... And you had shed a tear, but you were trying to hide it again. I didn't want that... So I was telling you that you didn't need to hide things from me. That you could trust me... Tell me anything... That I wanted to be there for you... That I needed you..."

Silence again. After some minutes of wondering whether or not it was the right thing to do, Naruto went to his wardrobe and looked for a shirt that no longer fitted him. Minutes later (Hinata staring at him confused), he retrieved one orange shirt with a black, spiraled flame pattern on its center. He put it right on Hinata's lap, and kissed her on her cheek.

"To be honest with you... I don't really have enough courage to walk you home after all this ruckus... And more importantly, I don't want to. There are..." He sighed. "... There are many things I need to say to you. But... I mean, I realize you're tired and all. So why don't you go take a shower in my bathroom, and I'll go get something nice to eat? You know, maybe actually having some sort of "date", as promised..."

Hinata smiled in such a way, that Naruto was seriously wondering just how much was it that she cared for him. The only thought of spending time together seemed to create a smile on her face, as opposed to many other reactions Naruto had seen or felt in the past.

"O-okay!" She said, and she stood up. In a small flat like Naruto's, finding the bathroom was no big quest. She went inside and closed the door slightly. Naruto smiled and changed to more casual clothes himself (orange pants and a more fitting version of the t-shirt he had just given Hinata, though with no patterns on it, and black), and jumped out of his window towards the first food store he could find.

Twenty minutes later, Naruto came back with the only thing he could find. Apples, strawberries and chocolate sauce. He bought some vanilla ice cream as well, to make it seem like dessert at least. He put the goods on the only table he had, and looked for some plates and spoons. By the time he had to walk past his room, though, his eyes met what he thought was nothing short of godly.

Apparently, Hinata had very enthusiastically wore his old shirt. And though it _was_big enough to be considered a dress, "dress" wasn't quite the appelative to describe it. It was so tightly wrapped on her body that the first thing he thought was of a sort of hybrid between a swimsuit and a leather one piece dress. He wasn't complaining though. He was pretty... "Surprised" of the way her breasts were so accentuated.

"Um... Naruto? Er... You don't like it?" She asked, after ten seconds of him staring at her.

"Oh! Um... Sorry! Yes, I like it, and I like it a lot! I mean, it's not like I'm an expert in these things, but... Uh... You look... You look great Hinata." Naruto gulped, as Hinata smiled gladly at hearing his answer. "I'm sorry, I couldn't find anything really fancy or stuff... You know, most of the food suppliers were bussy with the wedding and whatnot, so the only things I could find were..."

He pointed at the few apples and strawberries laying on the plates he had found, along with the ice-cream bucket and the chocolate sauce bottle. Hinata smirked, remembering the taste of her lipstick.

"...I love ice cream. And chocolate sauce too."

"...What about the fruits?"

"Those too. It's okay. I'm not really that complicated to please when it's about food..."

Naruto gave her a warm smile as "thanks" and asked her to sit on his bed again while he brought the ice cream and everything else. Minutes later, both of them were sitting on his bed, Naruto against the wall and Hinata with her back against his chest. No shoes. Their legs were together. Hinata felt so small, and yet protected being outsized by Naruto. the blond Uzumaki grabbed a spoon and took a good amount of ice cream on it, only to pour on it chocolate sauce and show it to Hinata.

"What do you say? Can I take this much without freezing my brain or what?"

"Haha, silly. Nobody can do that without freezing." Hinata answered, tasting an apple with chocolate sauce.

"Oh yeah? Okay, okay, then how 'bout this... If I don't freeze, you tell me a secret of yours. If I do freeze, I tell you a secret of mine. You know, since I was already gonna talk to you anyway. Let's do it in a funny way, at least, right?"

"Okay!" Hinata smiled, feeling completely happy that she even sensed Naruto's voice so close to her ears. "Let's see if you do it."

"Here goes nothin'..." Naruto put the whole spoon on his mouth and swallowed the ice cream on one go. One second. Nothing. Two seconds. Nothing. Three. Still nothing. Four. He poses in Rock Lee's nice guy fashion. Five, he goes all blue on his forehead and feels dizzy.

"Hahahaha, silly... I told you. Here, let me see if this makes you feel better." Hinata drank some chocolate sauce from the bottle, and then with her hands she made Naruto's face be right in front of her. She kissed him, and shared her drink with him. Naruto, be it by the sensuality of such action, or by the gentleness and softness of Hinata's hands, or by anything else unknown, he felt warm again and then some.

"Well, as promised. I have a secret coming." He said smiling. "Though, you know me. I'm not quite the secretive person... Why don't you just ask me any question you want?"

"Okay." She thought for a few seconds, crossing her legs (Naruto was impressed he had so much self control after a display of such a beautiful pair of legs and such a voluptuous body). "Naruto..."

"Yes...?"

"What do you feel towards me?"

BAM!. Right in the feels. Right in his head. His heart sped up, he began to sweat a bit, and he felt his whole body going red. He didn't run away, his eyes were still firmly set on Hinata's. It's not like he wasn't going to answer. What he was fearing was that, not even he himself knew the answer to that. Up until that day he had only loved (or thought he loved) Sakura, but now... After all what he had shared with Hinata during the night, after having his first kiss, his first date, and the first girl ever coming _inside_his flat (that girl being Hinata as well), he felt like he had have no damn idea what it was to actually love a person.

"S-sorry, maybe I should have asked something else..."

"No." Naruto said quickly, and took her hand with his. "You need the answer. And believe it or not, I need it too. I just need you to promise me that... Whatever it is I answer to you, you don't judge me or hate me-..."

"I _love_you." Hinata interrupted him. Naruto felt like he was back in the depths of his mind, talking to a certain red-head that would have had the most important place in his heart had he have the chance to live with her. That certain red-head had said the same words to him. And very much like what he felt then, he now felt happy and... Strong.

"I love you with all my heart's strenght. I could never hate you or judge you, even if you did that with me. Whatever your answer is, I'll still love you. You'll have to kill me to change that, Naruto."

"O-okay..." Naruto smiled, held back his tears, and breathed in. "...When you came for me during Pain's attack, I... I had never heard those words. _I love you_. I had never, ever, ever heard that before. You must have wondered why did I never say anything to you about it. Well... I... I had no idea what to say. There was Sasuke being a missing nin, a war coming up next and... Many other things. I thought my best choice was to postpone my reaction to those words. But then..."

Naruto hugged Hinata and held her against his chest, taking her by surprise.

"...I started training to control the Kyuubi's chakra. And who do you think I met inside there? Deep within my soul?"

"Who?"

"My mother. Uzumaki Kushina." Naruto kissed Hinata's hair and forehead. "And she said those words to me as well... And then I remembered you. And the way you stood up for me that time... And I felt so guilty... "

His hug became harder, the more he talked. Hinata felt she was about to cry, but she tried her best not to.

"...I think I haven't been fair to you at all. You have given me so much, yet received so little... And now that you're asking me what do I feel..."

He faced Hinata, in a very similar way to what he did with Sakura back at the Iron Country, when she had tried to lie.

"...I need to say that there is love born within me towards you. I feel love. I love you. And this is something I've realized just now, as I speak... So, you can't expect me to be as used to this feeling as you are. I've only loved someone, but never been loved. But you... You were always loving me behind the stage... For God knows how long. So I need..."

Hinata had finally come to tears. Tears of happiness, of joy, of realization that one of the deepest dreams she had ever have in her spirit and in her heart was right then being made real by the Jiinchuuriki's words and actions.

"... I need you to stay with me. Until... Until I'm not breathing. At which point, I need you so much, that I want you to follow me to whatever lies beyond death."

Crying, Hinata threw herself against Naruto's arms again. Naruto said no more, and smiled gladly, feeling something that he had never felt before. Kurama's voice came to his mind after hours of silence, and his words made Naruto even happier.

"_**That sorts out how to find inner peace, Naruto. Time to go and do the same for the world, if that's what you really want.**_"

"_Yeah... You're right. This... This right here..._" He tought while hugging Hinata tightly. "_... This is peace._

"Naruto..." Hinata sobbed. "... I love you so much... So much... You have no idea how much I needed to hear that from you... How much I've waited..."

Naruto shushed her with his lips. The chocolate sauce, the ice cream, the strawberries and the apples fell all around the floor. As the vanilla ice cream melted, it mixed with the chocolate sauce in the same way Naruto moved Hinata below him and kissed her as much as it has humanly possible for him. Her sensual body was so close to his, her breasts were also making contact and her legs were just too soft to ignore. Hinata had apparently been wanting to do the same thing for who knows how long.

As some strawberries and apples danced and spun around the floor, Naruto's clothes were slowly removed by Hinata's soft hands, the shirt first, and then his pants. Similarly, he did the same with her only clothing. It was then that they gasped at each other's ears and realized that they were half naked and in the same bed. But though both of them blushed considerably, none of them cared about their fear, and proceeded with kissing and massaging.

Hinata was wearing no bra, nor anything else to cover her breasts. They were probably too large to be bothered with, as far as a Kimono is concerned. Subsequently, as Naruto's tongue raced around her body, he came to realize how sensual and exciting being Hinata's lover was. Only a few get the blessing of a woman with such breasts that has also nice hips and legs. Usually, having one means not having the other. But she was balanced in that aspect. She had it all. He tasted her nipples as he managed somehow to massage her legs and touch every side of them. Hinata moaned every time his tongue played with the tip of her nipples.

"Does it hurt you that I do this?" Naruto asked as he bit both nipples together and sucked them gently. Hinata moaned greatly, scratching Naruto's back as much as her nails let her. She shook her head.

"N-No... I _am_very sensitive, though... P-please be gentle."

"No need to ask that, I would kill myself before hurting you." He sucked them again, adding just a minimum amount of strenght while at it, which made her moan even louder. Her body's reaction, besides moaning, was sending one of her hands after his sex. Though it was still covered by his underwear (as was hers), he was _also_very sensitive about it, so as he sucked he let out tiny moans as well. For a couple of sexual ignorants, they were doing better than expected, or at least he felt like that was the case. So far, no regrets.

Hinata started stroking him as soon as he moved one of his hands to her sex and began playing with it over her underwear (black panties with white ribbons on the edges). With his hand, he could also measure how wet she was getting (this of course being a coincidence, as he had no idea how was he doing what he was doing), while he himself felt like his penis got thicker and harder with Hinata's hand stroking it through cloth. Minutes after that, Naruto moved Hinata up, so that her femininity was right above him, and his penis right in front of her. He got a very pleasing view of her ass and legs, better than the one before, and also got to remove her underwear more easily. She imitated him, and got in exchange a full picture of his friend down there.

"W-wow... How do you walk with this between your legs?"

"Well, it usually isn't like that. Though now, I'm wondering if having you around will make it difficult for it to go back to its little version..." Naruto said, as he caressed her legs and ass before he played with her.

"W-why is t-that?" Hinata said, stroking Naruto's penis with her hand (and starting to wonder if it was enough with just one)

"Because you make me crazy, Hinata. You're too hot."

"T-then I guess we'll both have problems..." Hinata then thought of a better idea, and removed her hair from her face, putting it behind her. "... I also doubt I'll ever find it in myself to control my body knowing you and this thing are close by..."

She then lowered her head, and before Naruto could prepare for it, she put his penis completely inside her mouth. All the way to his testicles. Naruto let out a loud moan, squeezing her ass as much as his fingers were able to, and as payback he lowered it enough for him to lick, suck and kiss her vagina. Both Uzumaki and Hyuuga began a concert of interrupted moans, hard gasping and sucking, licking noises.

" _'Taku... Such an innocent girl, all warm and kind... And she's just sucking my dick like she knew how to do it since before I was born...Is this how hot she gets because of me?_" Naruto thought, trying to give Hinata as much pleasure as he was receiving from her, though he thought he was far from succeeding.

"_Oh God... He seemed so ignorant about it. Who would have known he would actually give me this much pleasure...? Is this how hot he gets because of me?_Hinata thought herself, trying to know what a man's orgasm was right then and there, by giving Naruto all she got, while receiving from him more than she could handle.

On a certain moment, at which Naruto felt close to climax, he swapped positions again. He sat on the bed, and made Hinata sit on him. Then, slowly, and having her hands wrapped around his neck (and her nails scratching her back again), Naruto began going in, penetrating her as slow and as gentle as he could. She moeaned louder than when he gave her oral sex, or when he sucked her nipples. Perhaps she was on pain...?

"Does it hurt... Hinata?"

"N-no... Or yes? I d-don't know...!"

"Should I stop-...?"

"No! Don't...!"

Seconds later, Naruto was all the way in. He and Hinata looked at each other, both sets of eyes exchanging each other's happiness. Souls were connected. Bodies as well. Flesh. Sex. Sweat. Fluids. Life. Love. Lust. Naruto began moving Hinata up and down from her waist, slowly at first and gradually speeding up. By the time four minutes had passed, his bed was about to break apart and their bodies were making noises each time they met. Though what was louder was Hinata's moaning. Naruto bit her neck and occasionally her nipples or her lips. Soon, he felt about to climax... But he began stimulating her clit as well (having no idea how he found it, though), trying to make her climax with him.

A couple of minutes passed, Hinata came first out of her being incredibly sensitive. Naruto came last, having an orgasm almost as long as hers, all the way inside her. Both of them fell on the bed, quite exhausted. Too lazy to go and turn the lights off (or perhaps just too attached to Hinata that he didn't want to let go), Naruto used his ninja aim to do so by throwing one of his paper Shurikens, which he used for practice. The lights went off, and Hinata looked at him.

"I love you."

"I love _you_, Hinata"

Soon enough, they fell asleep, not realizing that probably the whole neighbourhood had heard them, and that next morning would be the first morning they'd spend with each other. Or with anyone, for that matter.

The sound of his steps was not heard. And that's the way he wanted it to be. He was running away. They had found them. All of them. His family, his friends... Dead. All of them. Blood. Too much blood. He was scared. His eyes were terrified, but no one would be able to see them. Covered by a black piece of cloth. It had been a month, only. A month, running away from whatever it was that chased him.

He had no strength left.

Suddenly, his senses alarming him, he "looked" behind him. A flying kunai was getting closer to him and he had only got less than half a second to dodge it, losing some red hair of his. Gazing at the kunai, he was terrified to find a tag tied to it.

"Fuck_._"

He jumped away, only to find the potential owner of the kunai on midair. He dodged more attacks as he could, and landed in the middle of the forest through which he was running. A far away explosion was heard, and the fire coming with it lit the branches of several trees, along with the enemy's identity. A man with pale skin, the face of a hungry viper, black, long hair and sharp, intimidating eyes.

"You weren't seriously planning to run away, were you?"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

The red-haired man kept running away, no destination in particular. Jumping between branches, trying to avoid any further contact with him. _Him_.

But the pursuer appeared right in front of him as soon as he landed. Frustrated, he tried to attack with a punch. The enemy deflected it and punched back, right on his stomach. He was sent flying against the trunk of another tree. The other man walked towards his victim slowly, apparently tasting the moment. As soon as he got two steps away from the one with his eyes covered, this one made some quick hand seals and hit the ground with his palm.

"Fuuin No Jutsu! Karyuu Fujin!"

Black kanjis and marks were drawn all over the ground and the trees, after which, from where the summoner's hand had been before, a giant dragon made of blazing hot fire stormed and raged its way against the man with snake-like face. He backed off right when the dragon would have touched it, but apparently it was too late. The dragon was about to explode.

"Being suicidal, now, are we?" The man laughed mockingly. He bit his thumbs and put his hands on the ground similar to the previous person.

"Sanjou Rashoumon!"

As if planted on the ground like trees or mangroves, three colossal portals with demon-like sculptures rose between the dragon and the summoner of said portals. A huge explosion obliterated several hundreds of trees, after which the pursuer would look for his pray yet again. He was gone.

"Heh... As expected from the Uzumaki Clan. Experts at sealing and unsealing the most unexpected things."

Smiling, Orochimaru kept going on his way, his objective clear.

To Be Continued...


	4. New Squad, New Mission

IV. New Squad, New Mission.

(...)

"_I wish you hadn't done all that..._" The familiar voice kept saying. Everything was dark, He couldn't see a thing. Did he have his eyes closed? Or was it that his surroundings were absoluetly engulfed in pitch black darkness? Either one, his mind and spirit were starting to feel the natural effects Darkness had in the psyche of any human. Fear. Loneliness. Sadness. Pain. But why? None other than him had walked alongside Darkness for so long a time, and in such an intimate way. Why would he, of all possible people, feel afraid of the dark? It didn't make any sense.

"_Why...? Why did you have to make that choice?" _The voice said. He looked around him, trying to find the source of it, but it was for naught. He wasn't able to see anybody else.

"Who are you?" He asked, trying to not let his fear out through his voice, though he was starting to feel like his will was going to break.

"_Did you think I was going to be happy...? Is that it?" _

He turned on his feet (that is of course, assuming that what his feet felt was solid ground), and two events took place in the swiftest speed he had ever felt before. First, a blinding beam of light shone through the whole black void, and rendered his eyes useless. And then, right when he thought he could get a glimpse of whatever it was causing the light, what he could get to see was the face of one person he would never in his life or even death forget.

Brown hair that used to be shoulder-lenght, and that now reached her back. Dark eyes that in the past shot kindness right, left and centre, and that right now conserved their color albeit not the same kindness. Soft, white skin with which he had dreamed countless times as a kid. Wondering how in th world could that be even happening, his left eye (purple coloured, containing a pupil surrounded by a ripple pattern) and his right eye (crimson-red, one central pupil and three tomoes surrounding it in a shuriken-like motion) suddenly felt eager to make that dream a reality, and Uchiha Obito himself felt like he needed to hold her hand. His eyes widened with so much surprise that it hurt... He hadn't been so shocked in many, many years.

"Rin...!"

He tried to run towards her, but she shook her head. She was crying. She looked as old as him, perhaps. Her body was covered with a white, silky and shiny tunic that made her look like an angel. For all he knew, she could have been an angel from the start. Right from the first time he met her. Perhaps now, she was just revealing that angelic nature of hers to him... For whatever reasons. Obito tried running faster, putting his whole strenght on it... But be it by the thickness of the previous darkness, or by the speed with which that very angel flew away from him, he couldn't catch up. Despair came to his body in the form of coldness and fear.

"Rin!"

The angel turned on her feet, no wings needed, and then another quick thing happened. She glared at him with so much hatred he felt his heart ache... And his ears caught the roar of a creature so powerful and threatening that he lost his balance and fell to his knees. His eyes were no longer seeing Rin, or the darkness around him. He knew that roar very well. It belonged to a creature with ten tails.

As soon as the second roar was heard, Obito woke up. Soaked wet in sweat. Gasping. Only a faint breeze drifted through his improvised window. He was back at his cell. A dream. A nightmare. Biting his bottom lip, he stood up and walked clumsily towards the window pane. He gazed at the sea beyond his prison, while the full moon shone right in front of him, as if trying to mock him for his attempt at using it. Obito's eyes lost brightness again, and his expression regained its normal serious, cold demeanor.

"I did it because... I thought we would be able to be together..." He said lowly. "...Not that you really wanted _me _to be with you, anyway. Isn't it... Rin?"

(...)

"Oh, so you really came today!" Naruto smirked defiantly. "I guess you missed my feet kicking your ass..."

"...Wrong. What I missed was your feet _trying _to kick my ass. Trying and failing, that is." Sasuke answered as he walked towards him. The sky was as blue as it had never been before, not even during previous summers. No clouds. Leaves kept falling. Well, that _was_ the village hidden in the leaves, after all. Naruto had gone all the way to the training fields. Everything seemed calm, lively and beautiful, if one would decide to overlook the many holes and craters in the ground and several tree logs and trunks, and many of them had small, black marks in them. The place had been receiving Naruto's harsh training's outcomes mercilessly.

"Huuuuh? _Someone_ woke up in a good mood!" Naruto said, not taking his smirk off his face even once. Sasuke feigned being annoyed, while still displaying his usual arrogant smile. "I guess you think you can beat me... Why don't we give it a try? I was training anyway."

"No time for that." Sasuke folded his arms. It was then that Naruto realized how he was wearing the same outfit as Kakashi. A Jounin uniform. And hell, it made the blond jiinchuuriki happy to see Sasuke not only wearing that, but also his Konoha headband. Proudly. For once, he smiled with no rivalry or mischief, and displayed honest happiness. But then, obviously, wearing your uniform in Konoha only meant that you were either going to, or coming from a mission.

"It seems you got it..." Sasuke nodded. "...Godaime needs us at her office. Now. Plus, she did mention that you had some sort of appointment today with some girl... Or woman. Whatever. So, yeah... Get your ass ready."

"Oh shit!" Naruto facepalmed, and felt terribly guilty all of a sudden. What with all the things ("_things") _that had happened the prevous night with a certain black-haired woman, he had all but forgotten (yet again) about Konan. And he did say that once she had recovered, he would listen to whatever it was she had to say so badly. It had been Tsunade the one saying that she would be fine the day after... And, well, _now_ was the day after. "Yeah, I totally forgot about that... Anyway, how's the night with... You know...?"

"Bakka. You don't need to ask." Sasuke said, turning on his feet and asking him to follow his lead with a hand sign. "Ikuso."

"Oi, oi, oi... No bossing the _boss_ around, got that?" Naruto said, feeling relieved inwardly to not having to hear Sasuke talking about Sakura. Or rather, he was relieved that Sasuke knew him enough to not force him to talk about something he'd feel bad about. Naruto ran to catch up with him, and then kept walking alongside his friend. It seemed as though it was going to be a long day.

"By the way, that outfit suits you, Sasuke-_chan_..."

"I swear to Kami, I _will_ kill you if you say my name like that again."

"Yeah, haha, you've been trying to kill me for... How long was it, again? Yet, here I am. Alive and strong enough to send you flying, Sasuke-_chan_..."

"Naruto, teme, I'm warning you. Just because you and I are Jounin now doesn't mean we're equal..."

"Oh yeah, I forgot! I need my uniform. Hey, let's stop by my place for a sec, okay? Sasuke-_chan_?"

The black-haired Uchiha's forehead vein itched incredibly threateningly, and Naruto knew Sakura's bad mood for jokes had been passed on to Sasuke. Laughing out loud, Naruto ran for his life as Sasuke chased him angrly, shouting his name.

(...)

"Are you feeling better? Like, do you feel strong enough to walk?"

Following these questions, she tried to stand up from the wheel-chair. It soon became clear enough that she couldn't do it, as the sole try of moving her waist sent incredible pain to the rest of her body, and made her sweat as much as if she was running a marathon. Konan fell on her wheel-chair again, exhausted from just trying it. Her frustration became quite noticeable, as she scowled whenever she looked at her own reflection in the window. Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura (who had been there for a while, wearing her Jounin vest and trying to help) looked at each other, and then helped Konan to be more comfortable.

"It's okay. Don't push yourself. It's not like anybody can recover from such a wound overnight. Not even a Jiinchuriki." Tsunade went back to her Hokage seat, and her apprentices carried Konan's wheel-chair next to her. The ex-Akatsuki's forehead, covered by sweat, was wiped clean by Sakura, while Shizune let her drink some water.

"What... What is going to happen to me?" Konan asked. The three medics axchanged a look again, and then looked at her.

"We're not sure." Sakura said. "I mean, what's important it's not just the fact that you were wounded, but also for _how long_ were you wounded and more importantly, for how long were you bleeding. What sort of places were you resting at, and what-have-you. I'm afraid there's a possibility you might be infected..."

"...It's not like we're blaming you, or anything." Shizune said. " On circumstances like yours, it's more than understandable that you were on that state. But in a medic's opinion, you're quite lucky to be even alive. You should have died right after being stabbed... Who did this to you, again?"

"It was Madara..."

Shizune and Sakura looked at each other yet again, and frowned.

"You mean _the_ Madara, or the masked man who impersonated him?"

Konan looked at them, perplexed. It was then that Tsunade finaly joined the conversation and sighed with a slight tone of frustration.

"She had no idea that Madara was dead all along." The Godaime looked at Konan, whose skin suddenly lost color slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"Look, the man you knew as Madara... The one pulling the strings inside Akatsuki... He was never Madara to begin with. He was a former shinobi of this village. Uchiha Obito."

Konan's reaction, despite the fact that before she seemed actually scared of that thought, wasn't one of much surprise. She did seem impressed to some extent, but didn't lose her demeanor. She merely frowned while gazing at the floor and then snorted.

"Yahiko _did_ say... Whether he was a criminal or an idiot, he did have some sort of huge effect by using that other man's name. In the end, he was right... As he always was. But I take it you did fight the real Madara during the war? Godaime-sama?"

"Yeah..." Tsunade frowned at the mere thought of it. Just remembering Uchiha Madara's face sent a chill throughout her spine. "...And almost died because of that. He wasn't the kind of ninja that could be beaten by anybody but my grandfather. In the end, we not only end up losing Kami-knows-how many men from our Shinobi Alliance, but also didn't manage to _kill_ him, or cause his soul to leave that accursed Edo Tensei."

"Edo Tensei?" Konan raised her eyebrows, and then looked through the window. "That damn Kabuto... So he _did_ replace Orochimaru's gross jutsu during the war, after all. But then... How did you...?"

"Oh, believe me. I wasn't sure we had even the slightest possibility of even touching that man. Not even we, the Five Kage, were enough to deal with him. But, well... I guess as time goes by, and as the new generation takes after the previous one, even the strenght of a man such as Madara ends up being surpassed by the new generation's. He never expected our children to weigh just as much as he did, not even once. Neither did we. In the end, though, we had to seal him away. Barely, but we managed to. He lies now on the Kohaku no Johei. The pot where the Hachibi used to be sealed. And may Kami have mercy on us, that he stays there forever." Godaime took a short sip to her cup of tea, while Sakura and Shizune nodded with rather gloomy expressions. Konan could feel the same frightening sensation of insecurity, thinking what could happen if the pot suddenly broke.

But before that thought had much more development, the door to the Godaime's office opened and three people entered the room. First, a tall man with gray-white hair and a Konoha headband covering his left eye, wearing a jounin outfit and a small pocket book on his right hand. Following him, a young man with spiky-yellow hair, bright blueish eyes and about as tall as the first one. Next to this one, another young man with blueish-black hair, and deep black eyes. The three of them seemed to be having their own conversation...

"...by that, Kakashi-sensei? Are you saying that we're still weaker than you?" The blond said childishly, his expression resembling a puppy-fox about to start being annoying. "Tsk, tsk... Come on, now that Team Seven is back, shouldn't we have our bell-test again? You know, so we can prove we're better?"

"Naruto may be a dimwit, but he's right. What's that about not being _mature_ enough yet?" The other youngster said, frowning.

"You're still kids, this is the tenth time I'm saying it, already..." Kakashi answered, reading his book and sighing frustrated. "...'Taku, you two. Why don't you go ask the Godaime for that? Right, Tsunade-sama?"

The blond and the black-haired looked in front of Kakashi. Tsunade's dangerous forehead vein began itching slightly, and even more troublesome than that, this time Sakura had joined her shishou in the same threatening expression. Shizune and Konan felt a tiny sweat-drop of awkwardness fall down from their heads, as the two young men went pale.

"Is there any problem?" Tsunade and Sakura asked together, with a tone that conveyed blood-thirst. In fact, both women seemed to be shrouded in a dangerous, murderous aura. Kakashi smiled through his pseudo-mask once he saw his two students hide behind his back, shivering.

"N-no! Problems? What is that? Sasuke, do you know what are they talking about?" The blond one asked nervously.

"Nope. No idea. No idea at all. Don't ask me, Naruto." Sasuke replied shaking his head with unnecessary force. As Sakura went after them, her vein itching more dangerously, Konan approached Shizune.

"Say, is she like that all the time?"

"Y-yeah. Don't take neither of them lightly, or you _will_ die." The nervous woman said. "Last time, I tried to..."

"Mind if I join the convo, Shizune?" Tsunade asked with kind voice. But Shizune knew better, and both her and Konan trembled with fear.

"I-it's okay! Hahaha! N-nothing relevant, Tsunade-sama, nothing relevant at all!" The black-haired medic said, while Konan nodded (also with unnecessary force).

"_Anyway..._" Tsunade said it so that all the people present in the room would hear. Sakura stopped her pursuing Sasuke and Naruto, Kakashi stopped reading and grinning around, and Shizune and Konan went more serious. "...Konan. You're now healthy enough to talk. What was that you needed to say to Naruto?"

"Hai..." Konan looked at the blond Jiinchuuriki and smiled. He returned the smile. "...I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

"Baka. It was no trouble at all... Okay, for the medics it _was_, a little..." He stood corrected, fearing Tsunade's vein close to burst. "...But I'm glad you're okay. What happened to you anyway?"

"I was right before the war... Madara... No, this person impersonating Madara..." She felt the air around her and especially around Kakashi and his team grow thicker and more tense. "...Well, he came to Amegakure. He needed Nagato's Rinnegan..."

Silence. Everyone looked at each other. Naruto's fists trembled.

"So he...?"

"Yeah. He took Nagato's corpse... And from what I've heard about the war, so he did with his Rinnegan."

"Tch! Meddling with Nagato every single time... Anoyaro..." Naruto folded his arms. "...Now that I think about it, Kakashi-sensei..."

"Yeah." His master replied. "The Rinnegan we saw on his left eye back then was probably Nagato's..."

"...But that's the issue." Konan finished his sentence. "...Only his _left_ eye was the Rinnegan, right?

"Yeah."

"So, whatever happened to the other one? Nagato's corpse must still have the remaining Rinnegan, I'm sure... If that's not the case, that man must have kept it safe, somewhere... Naruto..."

Team Seven exchanged some frightened, yet serious looks within themselves, similar to Tsunade and Shizune, who already knew the details and were listening carefully to pick up anything new from the person who had fought Obito personally.

"...I don't want to put any more burdens on your shoulders than you already have... And I know I'm in no place to say what I'm about to say, given what we and our selfish perceptions of life did to your village. But..." Konan gazed to the floor.

Tsunade and Naruto shared a quick expression of complicity. Every ninja (including Sasuke) looked at Konan, and felt their bodies ache with the memory of Konoha obliterated and its people laying in the ground, dead. Well, Sasuke hadn't been there, but he could tell how hard it had been on the rest. His feelings were different. There was remorse on his eyes, due to the fact that what Pain had achieved was the very same thing he had wanted to do not too long before him. As the fake Madara had quite appropiately said once he and Taka met halfway through, Pain had merely "beaten Sasuke to it". And what made Sasuke feel even worse was knowing that, had he beaten Pain to destroy Konoha, _he_ would be the one at whom the others would be looking in that same way. Not Konan. That is, if he had actually managed to survive. His teasing Naruto about who was stronger was merely a way for them to be friends. Right after the war, it was more than clear just who from them both was stronger... Though both of them were close to die, Sasuke was the one closest to actually doing it. And no doubt, that would have happened before, had he been the one to reduce Konoha to ashes.

Konan's eyes begun to shed silent tears. "... Please... Find it. Find Nagato's Rinnegan. I don't want it to fall on the wrong hands. I don't want to see Nagato's... Amegakure's treasure being used for anymore bloodshed. I'm begging you..."

"...Konan..." Naruto said with low voice. "...I don't hold any grudge against you anymore. Even after what happened to Ero-sennin... Or to Kakashi-sensei... And I'm sure that, if you give the village a chance, everybody will find it stupid to feel any hate towards you."

Konan looked at him, her eyes widening. Naruto took some steps until he was close to her, and knelt down so their faces met each other. He smiled at her, trying to transmit as much warmth as when he did with Sasuke every time he felt guilty.

"Oh, right. Here, I brought this for you..." Naruto used his hand to find something on his backpack. Several seconds later, he put a bouquet of flowers on Konan's lap. The blue-haired woman's eyes finally shed all the tears she was holding back, as she recognized them. They were made of white, bright paper.

"This is..."

"Yup. You called it the flowers of hope that never died, when you gave them to me. Well, why don't you do the same, and never die? I mean, because you're already a flower of hope, right?" The blond jiinchuriki then grabbed one of the bouquet's flowers, cut it's stem, and put it gently on Konan's hair. The woman merely sobbed and hugged him thankfuly. Tsunade sighed, while shaking her head.

" _'Taku. What's with this kid and his sudden women-skills?"_

"Yosha!" Naruto said happily, going back to his team. "Don't worry, Konan! We'll get the Rinnegan back from wherever it is, right Sasuke?"

"Bakamon... Do you even have a plan?" The Uchiha replied while smirking (yes, smirking arrogantly again) and folding his arms as usual. "Don't make a girl a promise you're too dumb to keep, dobe."

"Wha' wuzz that?" Naruto glared at him. "Teme, always ruining my poses like the cold-blooded bastard you are. Want me to kick that thin ass of yours?"

"Antatachi!" Sakura yelled angrily. "The hell you think you're both doing on Godaime-sama's office, ya jerks?"

Kakashi and Shizune sighed, and the ex-Akatsuki's tears were replaced by chuckles in no time. Tsunade, though inside wanted to join Sakura's scolding the two of them, felt the same warmth as Konan did. Needless to say, the blond woman smiled to herself. "_"Always ruining my poses", huh? Mattaku... He's becoming more and more like you, Jiraiya."_

"Oi, Omaera!" She yelled, performing a professional control over her already infamous anger forehead-vein. Team Kakashi (Kakashi excluded) suddenly paralyzed and faced her, as soldiers did whenever addressed by their authority. "Tch! Always making this office look like a bar... 'Taku!... _Anyhow_... Recovering the Rinnegan is a request that Konan here has already made to me as the Hokage. I've already dispatched several ANBU squads and Chuunin Recon teams to have a go at it. Don't treat this as an official mission yet. We need more intel."

"Huh? But I thought that was the whole reason we were even called here, baachan...!" Naruto folded his arms childishly.

"Baka! Did you listen to me at _all_? We need more intel, as in we need to know the location of Obito's Sharingan Transplantation Facilities. He might have got tens of them scattered in the world. Until we even know where _one_ of them is, we can't make the Daimyo's pay for this mission. Missions aren't all about fighting, you know! What're you gonna do if you almost die while an assignment and then you have no money to pay your rent, brat?"

"Can't you be _simpler_ than that? I don't get all that stuff..."

"*Sigh* Kakashi, would you...?"

"What she means, Naruto, is that if we don't convince the Daimyo to pay you for this mission, you don't get to eat any ramen ever again."

"_WHAT?_" The blond's jaw dropped. Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other, the same thought dancing inside their minds. "_That was a little bit too harsh._"

"Just like you've heard."

"But, but, but!... Agh! Wakkata... So, what do we have to do, baachan?"

"Just focus on the mission I'm giving you today." She went more serious than before. "You are all to form a five-men team and look for this person. "

The Godaime threw a picture at Kakashi with the skill of a Shuriken Master. The latter caught it displaying the same mastery, and took a look at it, followed by his subordinates. The picture was of a young man, probably their age or perhaps only a year older. He had his eyes covered with a black stripe of cloth, and long red hair. The picture had been taken while he was seemingly running away. His expression was hard to describe, as half of one's expressions were noticeable by one's eyes. Though Kakashi could tell (along with Sakura) that he was quite scared.

Sasuke frowned a bit, as the man's red hair reminded him of Karin, and subsequently, Karin reminded him of his heated conversation with Kabuto, back to his fight against him alonside Itachi. "_People from the Uzumaki Clan all have red-hair". _The young Uchiha gazed at Naruto for a second and then back to the picture.

"_Could it be...?_"

"What's his name?" Sakura asked. Tsunade closed her eyes and layed her head on her intertwined hands.

"He himself doesn't seem to know. But I have reports of him running away from a place that, only minutes later, gets entirely destroyed. As for _how_ or _why_ do these places get obliterated in the first place, I don't know. So far, it seems he's running away... But it could be anything other than that, for all we know."

"What's so important about him?" Naruto said, rubbing his spiky hair.

"He seems to be a ninja, but there are no records of him being from our village... And also, none of the other villages have recognized him as theirs, either. Furthermore, he seems to be getting closer to the only place that's getting in the way of our absolute alliance..."

"Otogakure?" Kakashi asked, earning Tsunade's positive nod as approval.

"Whether he is from Otogakure, or he's just getting close to it by chance alone, we must get to him and learn more from him. We're in a tight position as it is... If we even let a tiny thing like this develop into a serious matter, our international relationships might get damaged. He's managed to escape from Kirigakure, Iwagakure and Sunagakure's hands... I don't want to share their failure, let alone give the Raikage the pleasure of feeling superior to us. Kumogakure is the only village beside ours from which that man has yet to escape."

"What should we do with him once we find him?" asked the Uchiha survivor.

"Bring him here, and we'll know what our next step is."

"Understood. We'll take care of it... By the way..." Kakashi was the one rubbing his head now. "...You _did_ say five-men team?"

"Yeah. There's a high chance you might be entering Oto. I have a bad feeling about that place." Tsunade shook her head. "I've sent ANBU already, but every four-men team gets reduced to three. Either by death or complete incapacitation. That damn Orochimaru... Kami knows what has he been doing with that place... Sasuke."

"Yes?"

"You need to be on this mission. You have intel on him, even though small."

"Okay." He nodded.

"Actually, I need all of you. Sakura as a medic, Sasuke as the intel source, Kakashi and Naruto as both attack and defense assets, and we need a fifth party member to secure a successful infiltration. Even though Sasuke has some information, Otogakure itself might have changed... We don't know what exactly lies beyond the border."

"Then I think the best choice you have..." Konan said, all of a sudden (earning Shizune's alarmed look, as if saying "don't interrupt Tsunade-sama!"). Everyone stared at her expectantly. "... Is having a Hyuuga within the team, right?"

Silence. Then, all of them shared thoughtful looks. Tsunade's mind, however, was already made up.

(...)

"R-really? _Me?_" Hinata's cheeks were totally coloured red, just as Naruto expected. He chuckled a bit as he turned his room upside-down (again) while looking for the one gift Jiraiya had given him right before his death.

"What's that? Haha, it's like you were saying that you can't do it..."

She had spent the night (and what a night indeed) on his flat, and while he trained and went to the meeting with his team, she had decided to stay there and make some breakfast for the both of them. As she and the blond jiinchuuriki had the actual breakfast (yet another moment she was trying desperately to record on her mind, so she could never forget it), he had given her the details of the meeting... The last bit of the tale, of course, being that she had been hereby summoned to join Kakashi's team in their mission. Well, all of them were jounin. She was more than appropiate for the job, as almost every other Hyuuga was either out in another mission or protecting her father and Hanabi, who were also out visiting the Fire Daimyo.

"It's not like that... It's just that, well... I seldom have any missions with you. It took me off guard. But I'm happy!" She smiled, which made Naruto's heart jump. "I...I'll do my best!"

"Did you know...?" Naruto finally found what he was looking for, and put it in his back pack. He sat beside Hinata on his bed (she was still wearing his shirt, which made him be torn between going on a mission and make love to her right then and there).

"What is it?"

"You look _beautiful_ when you smile." He kissed her on her cheek quickly, and chuckled. She went all red again, but chuckled as well.

"You look hot on a Jounin vest, Naruto."

"Do I? Really?" Naruto posed as Rock Lee (which made Hinata laugh).

"Yeah. On your own way, but you do."

"_ "My own way"_? Huuuurmmm... I wonder what you meant by that!" He smirked, feigning disappointment, while she stood up and kissed his lips as quickly as he had kissed her cheek before.

"I'm going to look for my uniform. Where do we meet?"

"Oh, right. The mission." Naruto said, shaking his head (and trying to wipe out any "impure" thoughts from it while doing it) "Etto... Right. Um... We meet at the gates, as usual... Kakashi-sensei'll do the briefing and stuff."

"What were you thinking just _now_, apart from the mission?" Hinata asked, hugging the blond ninja around his neck and letting him hugging her around her waist.

"Gee, I don't know. I forgot." Naruto said, smirking with a mischievous, fox-like expression.

"Huuuh..." Hinata chuckled. "...You know, they do say that the Byakugan allows the user to read minds. For all you know, I might have seen what you were thinking!"

"I wouldn't be ashamed if you did, to be honest."

"Oh, so you _do_ remember! Liar..." Hinata kissed him on his lips again, this time taking her time. Several seconds later, she stood there, hugging him and letting her face dig in his chest. She felt happier than she had ever felt before, as if she had suddenly received her father's approval, or as if the village had finally began caring for her as a person on her own. No, even if _those_ things had happened, she would still be happier by knowing Naruto and her could be together, just like that. He had filled the void space in her heart like nothing else could before, and like nothing ever could in the future. As far as she knew. But as much as he was doing _that_ for her, she knew she also had to the same for him. Even more, knowing the hardships he had gone through, and knowing the ones he'll probably go through in the future, what with being one of the most acknowledged ninjas in the world currently.

"Naruto..."

"Yes?"

"You met with _her_, didn't you?"

There was a silence that lasted for some seconds. They felt longer than days, though. Hinata tightened her grip around his neck, hugging him even harder, trying her best to not ruin the moment. She then felt his hands caressing her hair, and kissing her forehead.

"Yeah, I did."

"H-how was it?" She asked, completely surprised that he had answered so easily and calmly.

"Like it always is. I made her mad for being like I am, and got punched for it. I mean, it's fun and all... It's like the old Team Seven, and that's what I was fighting for since long ago. So, no complaints..."

"That's not exactly what I meant."

"I know full well what you meant." Naruto hugged her harder as well. "But, you know... Sooner or later, I need to get over her, right? I would never feel at peace with myself if even after last night and after being with you like this, I still can't get over her. It wouldn't be fair to myself. And more importantly, it wouldn't be fair to you. After all, you've waited so long for me... I can't just let you slip through my fingers... Especially now that I know how does it feel to be loved like _this_."

"Last night..." Hinata looked at him in the eyes. "... Naruto, last night was the best night I've ever had. I've never been happier."

"Well..." Naruto smiled at her again. "...I'd say that makes me happy, but that night _also_ made me the happiest I've ever been, so I don't know if it's possible to be any happier than what I am now. I do love you, Hinata. But I want you to teach me how to make you feel like I do..."

"I don't really know myself. I guess we'll have to learn together." She answered, smiling back.

"Fair enough. Let's go on more dates... No wait, let's go to other villages. What do you think? I've never been to Kumo, or Kiri, or Iwa... And we're all friends now, right? We could, I don't know, have some sort of holiday together?"

By the time he had finished the sentence, he could tell Hinata _wanted_ to do just that. She had just let out a loud cry of excitement, and thrown herself at him, kissing his lips.

(...)

The Leaf Village was sunny that day. From the morning to the time in which Team Kakashi met to ready for the mission, the sun had never stopped shining. Leaves had never stop falling and dancing gracefully. Wind had never stop drifting pleasantly. It really was the perfect weather for vacation. And the fact that Naruto had actually invited her to go with him on a trip hade made her temporally fly inside her mind. Pleasant weather, and Naruto. Foreign cuisine, and Naruto. New landscapes, and Naruto. The sea, and also Naruto. It was beyond perfect. She had already traveled oftenly with her father, but nowhere near other villages. That was off charts before, as the secrets of the Byakugan were way too important to give other villages the chance to get it. But with an alliance getting nearer by the second, and with Naruto being considerably stronger than her father, Hinata felt like this time she could actually feel like flying. The best feeling in the world. After all, and unlike many would think, the main Family of the Hyuuga Clan has way more responsibilities than the Second Branch. And even worse, being the Clan's heiress only meant she was to be trapped inside a cage almost as frustrating and infuriating as the one her cousin Neji had been thrown into.

Neji...

"_I wonder what would you say to me now, niisan... Now that me and him actually are together,_ _somehow._" She said to herself, as Naruto and her walked beside each other through one of Konoha's main streets. Both of them knew for sure that their classmates would be out in mission already, so there was no danger of another Akamaru issue. She was wearing her jounin outfit too, which suddenly made her come back to reality and remember that she was on a mission. Not on a date. "_Still... _" She thought. "..._If only I could... Just for a little while... Hold his hand..._"

She tried to move her hand to his nimbly. Softly. But every time she thought she had it, Naruto seemed to be looking at her. Which made her nervous. After several tries, she had finally given up as her eyes caught the sight of Konoha's Gates from afar. In less than ten minutes, they would be there, and from that point onwards, she would not be able to talk to him or be with him in the same way... For as long as the mission itself took. And obviously, he didn't want the others to know that she and him had...

...But, unlike everything she had thought, she felt her stomach make a gimastic turn as soon as Naruto's hand suddenly grabbed hers. She looked at him right away, her eyes widened and her cheeks redder with each passing moment. His expression was... Calm. He really seemed happy, and once he caught her reaction, he smiled in his foxy, bratty way.

"I know you've been trying to do it. Next time, don't be so shy."

"B-but... Your teammates..."

"Pfft... Kakashi-sensei will be more focused on his book, and the other two..." His left eyebrow itched so fast that only Hinata's eyesight, accustomed to these fast movements, was the one able to catch it. "...They will probably be like us. So don't worry. And even if they notice, so what? We're not doing anything wrong, right?"

His hand and Hinata's intertwined together, and she felt warmer again. She blinked happily, and muttered a faint "I love you" on his ears. He only moved his lips and replied with the same line, as they walked calmly towards the gates.

Minutes later, the squad was already gathered. Naruto (who was glad, honestly glad that Hinata had been called to the mission), finally could breathe more easily while having Sasuke and Sakura around, together. Kakashi made a hand sign and then, in a circle, they all stooped together.

"Okay, so, Hinata... Welcome to the team." Kakashi said with his kind smile.

"H-hai! I'll do my best. Thank you for choosing me."

"This is my first time ever talking, let alone working with you..." Sasuke greeted her with a hand shake. "...Sorry if I'm a bit of a jerk."

"Hah! Yeah, don't mind him." Naruto laughed. "Being a jerk is about all he's good at, isn't that right, Sasuke-_kun_...!"

"Don't push your luck, futari domo..." Sakura said while Sasuke readied his smartass reply, her expression as scary as possible for a teenage girl. But then, as suddenly as she had made that expression, she changed it and smiled kindly at Hinata (with the skills of a professional actor, or perhaps those of a person with dual personality issues?). "It's been a while since we worked together, Hinata. Help me control these guys, okay?"

"Okay." The Hyuuga replied, smiling as well.

"Moving on to the mission..." Kakashi came back, coughing loudly. "...There are some details I need to give you before we go. First, Hinata, our mission is to look for, find and if possible, capture this man..." He gave the black-haired ninja the picture Tsunade had shown them before. Hinata looked at it for some seconds and returned it to him. "... He seems to be a village-less shinobi, and apparently he lacks enough memory to remember anything about himself. He appears to be running away from someone or something, but so far it's too soon to tell. He might as well be going on rampage... Every place he meets, gets obliterated. Chances are we might actually need to go into Otogakure to find him. If that's the case, Hinata, you'll be in charge of making our infiltration succeed. Got it?"

"Wakatta."

"Perfect. Now, what are the provisions we got? Besides of food, of course... No Naruto, Ramen is not considered as "provisions". We need something different." He said, as Naruto made to show him one of his ramen-to-go cups. The jiinchuuriki let out a loud "hmph" and gazed away chíldishly.

"We got some large bread, water and some nutrient pills I designed myself." Sakura said, showing them to the rest of the team. "If we made even portions, we can last for weeks without eating the bread."

"What about weapons?"

"I got plenty of them from my Granny Cat, the Uchiha weapons supplier. We got some weapon summoning wristbands... Here." Sasuke took ten wristbands from his back pack, and handed them over to the rest of the team in sets of two. "Touch the symbol drawn in the middle and you'll summon shurikens."

"Cool!" Naruto wore one of them and punched Sasuke softly in his shoulder. "I like your style."

"Well, you _do_ want to be like me, don't you? If I recall correctly, that is..."

"Heh. Keep dreaming."

"Hinata, have you got anything for camping?" Kakashi asked over Sasuke and Naruto's shared glare of rivalry. Hinata chuckled, while nodding.

"Yes. I have some tent summoning scrolls, they work similar to Sasuke-kun's wristbands."

"Great. What about you, Ramen-freak. Got anything helpful for us?" He said to Naruto, who snorted defiantly and smirked.

"Yeah, I got something neat. You'll see what's it about soon enough. For now, just give me your hands, okay?"

Perplexed, the four members of the squad gave Naruto their hands at the same time. Naruto merely put his hand over the middle point at which all hands met each other, and with his left hand he made half a seal. Afterwards, a black, ink-like, kanji-like mark crawled over each member of the team's skin like a small snake. Kakashi's eyes widened.

"No way... You...?"

But Naruto merely put his index finger on his own lips to ask for silence. He winked an eye at his sensei, while Sasuke and Sakura discarted Naruto's gift to the team as unimportant, and rose from their positions. Hinata, still perplexed, looked at Naruto.

"What was that for?"

"Heh, you'll see soon enough, Hinata. Don't worry." He whispered on her ear. She blushed a bit, and paid attention to Kakashi's second cough.

"Okay. Now the last things before we leave... I'm not gonna be the captain this time."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise.

"Don't get your hopes up, dobe... You're not gonna be the captain regardless. Ramen-freaks aren't suited for the job." Sasuke said, folding his arms yet again and smirking.

"This time, Sakura will be the captain."

"_What?!"_ Both Uchiha and Uzumaki yelled. Sakura and Hinata shared looks of surprise.

"Not only is she a Medic Jounin, but also has the best chakra control out of all of you four. She's smart, and will think up the best solution in any pinch we may have. This is a perfect opportunity to test those skills in a real mission. Up until now you've been Chuunin. But now, you're Jounin. A Medic Jounin. Give it your all, Sakura."

"H-hai!" The pink-haired kunoichi replied. Hinata gave her a warm smile. Both of them girls looked at each other, and they walked closer to each other as both Naruto and Sasuke pursued Kakashi everywhere around to know why they hadn't been chosen as Captains.

(...)

"So, Sakura... What formation should we follow?" Kakashi asked, as the first hour had passed since their departure from their village. Naruto and Sasuke (who had a clearly annoyed expression due to them not being the Captain) walked a bit closer to her to hear what she said. Hinata chuckled at the sight of Naruto's face.

The pink-haired ninja unscrolled a small map of the area, while the other's heads gathered together.

"Tsunade-sama's intel says our target is most likely going to show up in here..." She touched one particular point in the map with a red circle around it. "...A small village with low inhabitant numbers and only a couple of business establishments. Bars and one inn. This village usually supports Tanzaku Town every single year, but today everybody would be at home resting, as it's Sunday... Which makes everything all the more dangerous. That being said..."

She scrolled the map back, put it on her back pack, and asked them to stop.

"Our best bet is not to aim for chasing the target around, but to _ambush_ him. Take him by surprise. _If_ he is really being pursued by _something _or _someone_, once he falls for our ambush, we'll know what or who is it that's after him. If he's not being pursued and is just causing trouble, even simpler. We capture him and that's the end of it. We only have two chances to perform the same plan... This village or the next one, which is directly at 12 o' clock, around two to three days on foot. We better finish the mission on the first try, though... As soon as we go to the second village, we'll already be too close to Otogakure."

"What are our roles then?" Sasuke asked, tightening his forehead protector.

"Once we get to the village, we need to form two teams. Sasuke and Sensei can use Katon, right?"

"...Yeah." Both of them answered.

"...So your role is to be in the lookout for any possible "chasers" our target may have. If there are any, use your Katon to create a fire wall and that'll separate them from out target. Naruto can use Kage Bunshin without having too much a hard time with his chakra levels, so he'll act as your back up, while Hinata, another Naruto and me chase and deal with the target at the same time. Best case scenario, there would be no "chasers" at all, and we'd be finished in no time."

"What about worst case scenario?" Hinata asked.

"There _are_ chasers, and they are strong enough to force us break the team. I need Naruto with me so the target can't take me out, and also Hinata, so we can track him should he run for it. If Sasuke, Sensei and Naruto's clone can't deal with them, we'll have to attack together... All of us, and let the target run for the time being."

"I see. Should we do some recon, then? Put some traps, at least to avoid using an immediate, flashy Katon?" Kakashi proposed, as they continued walking across the woods.

"Actually, that might be a good idea... If the chasers are weak. But in the case they're not, separating them from the target with a Katon would send a strong enough message." Sakura tapped her forehead with her hand, thoughtfully. "Okay... Sensei, you and Sasuke will have one layer of booby traps from a determined distance away from where we'll be waiting for the target. If they don't fall for them, then that means it's time for Katon."

"Understood." All of them said.

"Okay. Let's move." Sakura and her team nodded in agreement, and all that could be seen from them was a black blur of people jumping through tree branches.

(...)

As the starred sky bathed the ground with its light, and the crescent moon looked like it wanted to hide behind some clouds from ill intentions, the small village had all its houses and buildings turn their own lights off. Time to sleep for everybody, apparently, as the prospect of one of the most hated days worldwide sent waves of boredom and apprehensiveness to all inhabitants. Little did they know that while children went to bed, and parents started their routine of either going to bed themselves or trying to get the most from the night (if you know what that means), danger crossed the main and only street in the form of four hooded human silhouettes.

Black robes, and looks vaguely resembling thos of a black ops ninja , they looked as frightening as the shinigami itself. They walked silently, towards the other exit of the village. The woods before the country border.

"Are you certain he's there?" asked one of the figures in the middle. He had a strong, male voice.

"Yeah. No mistaking it. He's got to be tired... We've been after him nonstop since days ago." Said the shortest one, to the right. A female voice, though as cold as the first one.

"Yeah, but because of your little fiasco last night, Sensei had to join our pursuing mission..." Said another figure in the middle. Another woman, albeit apparently older. "...Disgraceful. I wonder if he wants us dead now..."

"But that guy _did_ get away from Sensei, though. Doesn't that tell us how good he is...?" Said the one to the left, a man, the tallest one of the four, whose voice didn't match said height as it was softer. "...If he eludes even Sensei, then he's more likely to do it with us as well."

"Hmph..." The first one to talk shook his head. "...Good? He was lucky. Sensei just happened to be low on chakra at that time. He won't be that lucky this time, though. Let's go."

All of them stopped walking for a split second, and then dashed towards the woods like hovering shadows, or dark water flowing in a straight line. Their steps were muffled by the grass on the ground, and as they ran effortlessly, the moon got out of its hiding and decided to illuminate the forest, if only a little, as if it wanted to see what would become of the shadowy squad.

As they entered the forest, and jumped from tree to tree like agile apes, they eventually found the way to the deepest heart of the forest. This place, however, was more illuminated than the rest, and the trees didn't cover the sky as much as it did previously. Under the orders from the man in the middle, they stopped right on a particularly thick tree branch. Their target was right in front of them.

A young man, his long red hair loose and falling like waterfall over his shoulders and face, and his eyes unseeable thanks to the black cloth obscuring them, was sitting against a tree trunk, gasping continuously and apparently wounded in his left arm. He was wearing a robe similar to theirs, though white and much more dirty and torn, due to his reckless way of running. He had apparently noticed already that he was not alone. He was gazing left, right and centre, as if a twig had just snapped suspiciously near his position. It seemed as though he was too tired to stand up anyway.

"Look at him... What a pathetic sight." The leader said, and gave the signal for going further ahead. Resembling dark spirits, or dark water again, the squad landed several feet away from the young redhead, who greeted his teeth in frustration and prepared a kunai. The leader chuckled.

"Come, now. This has been going on for too long, don't you think?"

"It's been going long because of _you_ people. If you really want it to be over, then get your asses away from me!" The redhead said, his anger as sharp as the kunai he was weilding.

"You should know full well already we can't do that. See, there is a reason why you must come with us..."

"I don't care. I couldn't care less, actually. Shove your reasons up your sorry asses and leave me alone. Or else." He stood up, barely, and pointed his kunai at them. One of the hooded women gave him a smug applause.

"Oho... He wants to play already? Cute." All of them grabbed their own kunais as well.

"Get him." The leader ordered.

However, that one order couldn't be fulfilled. As soon as they took one step, the air around them produced the same sensation as when someone threw weapons at you. And sure enough, several kunais with explosive tags flew towards them and stabbed the ground. An explosion was unleashed, and sent one of the hooded pursuers flying, while the others landed away with difficulty. The leader, who had stayed behind, backed off a bit.

"_What the...?"_

But before he could analyze anything else (and before the redhead's widened eyes), his second step backwards triggered another set of flying, explosive kunais against him. He dodged as barely as he could, and landed beside the rest of his team.

"Trying to get us caught in traps, are we?" The talles one of the hooded crew said. "Well, it's not gonna work unless you put yourself into it more-..."

But his words were interrutped by the sound of the earth beneath him cracking. Seconds later, three of the four pursuers fell into a well dug hole, deep enough to darken every sight of them. The leader snapped his tongue annoyedly while doing some quick hand seals. His right hand hit the floor after he was done, and the earth that had previously crumbled and turned into a well, suddenly rose up similar to an elevator. The rest of the team was back.

"Tch! That is _it_. I'm killing you right here and right now..." The older woman said.

As soon as she took a sinle step more, and while the redhead backed several steps off, a male voice was heard in the air.

"Katon! Goukakyou No Jutsu!"

An incredibly large fireball flew with amazing speed at the middle point between both pursuers and theit target. The leader and his crew managed to pull back with enough timing to not get roasted with the fire.

"_So it's not him... It's someone else entirely, huh?_"

And as if life itself had decided to answer his thoughts, two smoke bombs snapped in front of them, revealing the figure of two men they knew very well. The one in the right had a set of glowing, red eyes, and his hand was emiting loud, bird-like noises while shrouded in lightning. The one in the left, whose hand was also in the same state, had gray, spiky hair and was glaring at them with another red eye, just as fearsome as the first one's.

"I see... Konoha seems to have some interest in our guy as well, huh...? Hatake Kakashi... Uchiha Sasuke..." The leader said, earning his subordinates' surprise. The attackers, one their names were mentioned, took several steps forward.

"I hope you excuse us... But you're gonna have to come with us." Kakashi said, weilding his Kunai.

"What if I said "no"?"

"Sadly..." Sasuke snorted. "...There's no _if_. Ikuso, sensei!"

(...)

To be continued.

(...)

I hope you guys liked it! Thank you so much for adding my story to your favorites and adding comments. It's really something that's sent happiness to my heart to see people interested. Please look forward to next chapter.


	5. Team Issues

V. Team Issues...

(...)

"Who... Who _are_ you people?!"

"Shut it, this is not the time."

"No, _you_ shut it, let me go! Get the _hell_ out of my way!"

"Are you stupid? We're trying to help you, idiot. Get a grip and stay put, for the love of..."

Sakura grabbed the red head's arms and pulled him down, forcing him to sit back where he was. Her strenght while doing was unnecessary, but also apparently the only way he would actually listen. The fire wall created by Kakashi and Sasuke's Katon was raging and cracking threateningly, while Naruto took a hold of a kunai from his holster and awaited any sort of attack coming from the other side of the fire, and Hinata checked the perimeter with her Byakuugan.

The blond jiinchuuriki made a cross-seal with his fingers and ellaborated a Kage Bunshin, which jumped over the fire with remarkable agility and joined his Sensei and his friend's fight with the pursuers. Right after that, the original Uzumaki sat down and concentrated as he had been taught to do by a certain frog-hermit from certain mountain.

"Hinata, can you see how many of them are there especifically? I mean, are there more than just those four?" Naruto asked. The Hyuuga shook her head.

"I can't see any other ninja around us, and I'm talking about a five to six kilometers perimeter. All seems to be clear..."

"Right. Okay, please stay with Sakura-san and protect her while she heals that guy." His eye-lids acquired red pigmentations, his eye colour became golden, and his pupil transformed into a frog-like horizontal line. He stood up right away.

"Are you going somewhere?" Hinata asked, deactivating her Byakuugan for the time being. Her expression showed her worrying. Naruto closed his eyes for a second. Sakura, who had recoiled a bit while holding the redhead's mouth so he wouldn't talk at all and healing him (all due to Naruto's "Sakura-san"), also looked at him enquiringly.

"Even though you can't see it, there is someone else coming our way. His chakra pool is... _Huge._ Not as much as mine, but I'd say close. It's definitely more than Kakashi's and possibly as big as Sasuke's. I don't think it's a good idea for the whole team to confront this person, we have our hands full as it is with those freaks. I'll handle it."

"Absolutely not." Sakura replied. "If there _is _such a big threat coming here, then it's all the more important to us to get the hell out of here. You're better off going and helping Sensei and Sasuke wrap that fight up faster."

"We don't have time for that." Naruto frowned. "He's less than ten minutes away. By the time we finish the fight, he'll be after us, and if I had been helping Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke with their fight, then all _three _of our fighting resources would be already half-consumed. Besides, taking care of anybody after this guy..." He pointed at the redhead. "... Is also part of the mission. Are you chickening out on me?"

"This is not about being brave, Naruto..." Hinata stepped closer to him. "...This is about taking him to our village. If we manage to get the pursuers while at it, lucky us. But they're not priority. Please don't take unnecesary risks..."

The blond Uzumaki's eyes widened a bit as Hinata made her request, and put a hand on her cheek, smiling.

"Baka... I'm not taking any unnecessary risks. I'm doing what I'm supposed to do for the village and for the mission. Besides, I'm not gonna fight all out and die... I'll just make sure he's held back for long enough so you guys can retreat with _him_. Once I know you guys are out of danger, I'll catch up. I promise."

"No, you listen to me Naruto." Sakura said before Hinata could reply. "I'm not sending you out there without a plan and without the rest of us. As the captain of this team, I'm ordering you to stay here with us, out of harm's way. End of the discussion..."

The Kyuubi's vessel was about to counter the argument, when the redhead young man put Sakura's hand away from his mouth and gasped frustrated at her harsh treatment.

"You're Konoha shinobi, aren't you?" He glared at Sakura. "...Tch! Always after me. There has always got to be _someone_ after me, doesn't matter who or from where. But Konoha's ninja are the ones I can't stand the most. _He_ was also from Konoha, wasn't he? The one who's been after me all this time...!"

"Do you know who is it that's coming here?" Naruto asked, though he already had a close idea. The redhead glared at him after trying (and failing) to get free from Sakura's grip.

"I think his name is Orochimaru..."

(...)

Charging right ahead, Sasuke ran towards the one who seemed to be the leader of the hooded crew, and launched a glowing, fast Chidori Katana at him. All the hooded people broke up in teams of two, the seemingly elder women with the leader facing Kakashi, and the younger women with the taller man were against Sasuke.

"This guys..." Sasuke undid his Chidori Katana right away, his sensei right beside him.

"Yeah... I don't like the feeling of their Chakra. It's like... "

"Oho... So you _do_ realize what sort of people you're dealing with. Perfect. Now it's time to die!" The leader said, extending his right arm towards the sky and unleashing what seemed to be the thing Sasuke and Kakashi were fearing. His arm was immediatly covered by black, tattoo-like marks that spread all over it as if painting his body. After the marks finished consuming his arm, it gained a bizarre, gigantic appereance, after which the leader punched the ground with it and caused a miniature of an earthquake.

"Up above, Sasuke!"

Kakashi and Sasuke jumped to the first set of treebranches they could find, out of the shockwave's damage zone. But no time to even breathe. The elder woman (who apparently had done the same with her arm) attacked them from midair using a whip-like version of her arm and slicing easily anything that stood in her way.

"_Shit_" Sasuke thought, as he had stopped practicing how to contain someone with the Cursed Seal's power since long ago. "_Are these guys on pair with Juugo?_"

They ducked as they could to avoid the slicing whip attack from her, and their eyes widened as they caught the glimpse of another incoming attack from the tallest guy. Both his arms were resembling a terrifying, parasite-like firing weapon, which charged some energy right in the middle of its hole and fired away a frightening yellowish beam.

"You think you can take me out with _that_?" Sasuke activated his Mangekyou Sharingan with a blink, and let out a howl of rage.

The spherical explosion that followed was enough to rip hundreds and hundreds of trees away from the ground, creating a crater that had nothing to envy from the ones in the moon. After the conmotion was over, though, every participant of the fight was still standing. And now, in front of the four hooded individuals, stood a giant, ethereal figure that sent waves of rage towards them. The strenght of such Chakra made them shiver silightly. Sasuke was engulfed in purple light, his eyes glowing intimidatingly, and his ethereal warrior's sword pointed at the attackers.

Kakashi landed beside him, his Mangekyou Sharingan also activated and ready to have any other attack Kamui'd at the sight of it.

"Thanks Sasuke. You saved us."

"Not at all. I'm used to the likes of these guys... People with this kind of abilities don't know the word _restraint_"

"Oi! You guys okay?!" A familiar voice asked from afar. Seconds later, a blond, blue-eyed young Jounin joined the fray, landing right beside Sasuke and Kakashi.

"How's things on the other side, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Could be better..." the Jiinchuuriki said, taking a look to his surroundings. The ratio of that crater could be easily compared to a stadium, probably as wide as the one where the Chuunin Exams usually took place.

"Is Sakura all right? Don't tell me you came here and left them alone..." Sasuke said, still glaring at the hooded foursome. Naruto shook his head.

"I'm a clone. They're with my original. Bad news. But I'll have you briefed as soon as we take care of these guys."

"Fair enough." Sasuke and Kakashi answered, as the three of them braced and prepared for battle.

"Oi, oi, oi..." The shadowy squad's leader chuckled, and his subordinates imitated him afterwards. "...Aren't you all getting a bit ahead of yourselves? _Taking care of these guys_ you say, but it only took three moves to force Uchiha-chan here use his Susano'o... Are you sure it's allright?

"Oh, yeah?" Naruto smirked, his thirst for battle increasing. "How do _you_ know my pal here didn't activate his Susano'o merely because he knows it only takes one little swing of its sword and y'all weirdos be yelling in pain?"

Their leader closed his hands in fists, and their laughing stopped. Sasuke and Naruto shared a fast look of complicity. Kakashi sighed.

"Why am I only surrounded by strong enemies that happen to be bothering brats at the same time? Mattaku..." He unlocked his holster and agilly took his kunai, making it glow with a blueish light that soon transformed into sparks and jolts of electricity. "Say... You people... _Who_ are you exactly, and what are your aims with that man?"

"Sorry. Our sensei has taught us not to talk with strangers." The older woman said.

"Has your sensei taught you anything about being tortured because of your failure to speak after being asked for the first time?"

"Yeah. That's why _you_ are the ones coming with _us_! You'll have a taste of what it means to be tortured by _us_!" Said the younger woman, after which, the foursome launched themselves towards the three Konoha ninjas. Kakashi sighed.

"Don't kill them. Let's try having all of them captured."

"Wakkata!" Naruto and Sasuke answered, bracing themselves.

"You'll need the killing intent if you even want to touch us, you fools!" The tallest of the four said, as they surrounded the three leaf shinobi in a circle and approached them with different, odd-shaped, weaponized arms. Sasuke let out a loud snort of disappointment, and deactivated his Susano'o. Right before their attackers came close enough to engage, Sasuke spun on himself once and extended his arms violently.

"Chidori Nagashi!"

The four hooded ninjas were electrified by a large current of blueish sparks. Kakashi charged against the leader, who was the one running towards him, and the only one who managed to withstand Sasuke's Raiton. Hatake took advantage of his enemy's split second opening interval and pierced through him with his kunai inbued in electric Chakra, while the other three were sent flying by the Chidori Nagashi's momentum.

"Naruto, Sasuke, get ready!"

"Hai!"

Kakashi, who made a Kage Bunshin while holding the leader against the ground with his kunai had his clone make some hand seals at top speed and put his hands on the ground, before the other three ninjas touched the ground.

"Doton: Hashira no Jutsu."

Right below them, the earth was shaped in a cilindric pillar, resembling a man-made plateau. Said pillar rose from the ground as if it was some sort of rising dragon, and hit their stomaches hard enough to send them flying vertically several feet away.

"Ready, dobe?" Sasuke said, semi-activating his Susano'o to the point a huge, skeletal hand could be seen at his side.

"Born ready, teme!" The blond jumped on the pevious hand's palm, after which Sasuke threw his friend with Susano'o's strenght. While in midair, Naruto used a cross-seal to summon two more clones in a poof of white smoke, and prepared a small, spinning chakra sphere on his hand. His clones imitated him.

"Bitch, don't underestimate us!" The tallest of the hooded group said. His comrades and him spun in the air as possible for them, and aimed at Naruto's clones. A set of three yellowish spheres began charging energy as three Narutos flew at them.

"_Shit_" Sasuke thought. "_He's not gonna make it at this rate...!_"

The three blond clones looked at each other, while rustling their holsters with their free hands. Each clone then weilded a three-pointed kunai, at which sight Kakashi's eyes widened.

"_Your're_ the ones who shouldn't underestimate us, bastards!" Naruto said, as he and the other two clones threw the Kunais at the hooded attackers. However, despite the fact that the weapons had been aimed at their heads, they managed to avoid them easily.

"You missed, and now you're _fucked_!" The younger woman yelled with a tone that stated clearly her love for victory. After that, three beams of incredible energy were shot against Naruto and his clones.

"Sasuke, don't worry about me and guard the attack!" He said, as the three of them were engulfed in light. Sasuke snapped his tongue loudly, and activated his Susano'o completely for the second time, making sure he and Kakashi were covered by it. The following explosion was less poweful than the first one, but still created another crater and still made as much noise and ruckus.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, as he moved Susano'o's arms to see better. He scanned the area in looks for his blond friend, as the three hooded ninjas landed in front of them once more, laughing loudly.

"What a dumbnut! Taking the attack right on...!"

"I see this is all Konoha can do against us... What a let down..."

"If all of you are as stupid as that guy is, then crushing you'll be a piece of cake!"

"Naruto, get your ass here!" Sasuke kept yelling, not able to find him around. But Kakashi's hand asked him to remain silent.

"Don't worry. He's fine."

"How do you know?" Sasuke asked, upset at his friend's disappereance. The ninjas with cursed seal laughed even harder.

"Yeah, are you _blind_? We smashed his ass to smithereens, pal. There ain't no "Naruto" anymore, not even his fingernails are left for you to mourn him, you shitface!" The tallest man said, holding his breath as he laughed.

But then, as they kept laughing, their leader woke up from the numbness caused by the electrified kunai and yelled at them.

"Idiots! _You're _the blind ones! Look up...!"

But it was too late. Only a few centimeters away from each of their faces, a spinning chakra sphere glowed with a sapphire light as it was reduced to a smaller size by its owner. A blond, young Konoha jounin that mere moments ago was supposed to be obliterated with their beams.

"_I-Impossible!_" Was the only word that crossed their minds, as Naruto and his two clones smirked mockingly.

"Don't _fuck_ with the son of the Yellow Flash, bitches! _RASENGAN_!"

Their spherical attack produced a considerably smaller explosion, though the internal damage done by it in each of its victim's bodies was unthinkable. They fell with their faces to the ground, yelling in pain and having their backs exposed as Naruto's technique tore their clothes easily. Blood came out of their mouths slowly, and their conciousness hung from the thinest possible thread.

"_What the...?!_" Sasuke frowned, deactivating both Susano'o and his Mangekyou Sharingan. "..._But I __**saw**__ him getting caught in the attack...!_ _How in the world did he...?"_

"Impressive, isn't it?" Kakashi said, smiling as he covered his Sharingan with his headband. "It's my Sensei's famous teleporting Jutsu. The Hiraishin No Jutsu. This is what earned him his nickname, the Yellow Flash."

"_Hiraishin...?"_ Sasuke smiled nervously, as much as he frowned all the same. "..._That idiot... Since when is he able to do that..?" _He shook his head, and knelt next to Kakashi, looking at the hooded leader's numb body. Meanwhile, Naruto pulled the other three from their clothes' neck and carried them towards Kakashi.

"We should go to where the others are now, though..." The blond said, receiving Sasuke and Kakashi's enquiring look after that. "...It seems we will have a visitor soon..."

(...)

"Oh, thank the Heavens..." Sakura ran towards Sasuke as soon as he and the rest threw the unconscious hooded foursome to the ground. The pinkette hugged Sasuke around his neck, after which she punched him slightly on his shoulder.

"We saw those explosions... Was it _these _guys? Are you all okay? Need any healing?" She asked, galring at Kakashi and Naruto one after the other. The three men sat on the ground.

"We're fine. We managed to beat them before it got uglier." Sasuke looked at one of them, though their hoods were still on. "I wonder how did these guys got out of their cages, though..."

"Yeah..." Kakashi said, as Sakura healed him and Hinata ran towards Naruto and hugged him.

"Are you hurt? I'm not a healer, but..."

Naruto kissed her on her forehead, making her blush considerably.

"I'm okay, Hinata." He took her hand and gave it a small squeeze as a sign of missing her. After this, he looked at the clone he had left there with golden eyes and red pigmentations. "How much time have we got left?"

"About four minutes." His clone said, dissipating after talking and pouring all his Natural energy into Naruto's original body.

"What's that about...?" Sasuke asked, while Sakura returned to heal their red head target (who had lost consciousness).

"Reinforcements. These guys have someone really powerful coming to help them. I'm a sensor on Sage Mode, so I can tell."

"Who is it...?" Kakashi said, his expression losing any signs of relief. Naruto stood up and moved his right arm in a circular motion, grabbing his shoulder with his left hand.

"Orochimaru."

Silence fell upon the Squad, as the night wind drifted through the middle of the forest, sending a cold shiver through their spines. Sasuke's Sharigan with three tomoe was activated in a red flash of light, and he stood up as well.

"So we need to go take care of him, right?" He said, looking at Naruto. Sakura interrupted their conversation with one of her ruthless punches striking a tree log, and making a hole in it.

"Like I said before, Naruto, Sasuke, _no one _is to go and engage him. Our mission is accomplished right now, we don't need to fight unnecessary battles. Let's go to Konoha. Now."

"We don't have time for this..." Naruto closed his eyes, seconds after which his whole body was engulfed in what seemed to be yellowish, orange flames of light and tattoo-like black symbols decorated his whole body. He had activated his first Kyuubi Chakra Mode. "...Missions are not only about doing what's been written on the scrolls, Sakura-san."

"Enough with the "Sakura-san" bullshit!" Sakura snapped, standing up and facing Naruto. "Listen, if you have some sort of problem with me or anything, that's fine! But on missions, especially right now, you _have_ to do as I say and forget about your personal..."

"If you really think I'm doing this out of personal grudges against you, you have another guess coming." Naruto said, his voice growing colder. "You should know full well what Orochimaru is after..."

"Which makes it all the more stupid from you to go alone and fight him, Naruto." Sasuke said, leering at him. "If he really is looking for my body, then let him come and I'll settle this once and for all.."

"That's too dangerous."

"The hell it is! Are you calling me weak?" The Uchiha said, though Naruto's glare was as strong as his.

"I'm not calling you weak. And you two should stop acting as if I was going to die! YOU are the ones calling me weak! I'm not saying I'll beat him, I'm just saying I'll create a diversion so you can get out of here easily! _THEN_ I'll catch up to you, and that's the end of it!"

"Don't you fucking get it? This is a team Naruto, you can't just go around doing whatever you please!" Sakura growled, her eyes throwing sparks.

"Why don't you shut your trap and stop talking as if you even cared one bit about _me_?!" Naruto said hotly, as he jumped to a tree branch, away from the rest of the team.

"What did you just...?!"

"Sakura..." Kakashi said, putting himself between her, Sasuke and Naruto. "...You might not want _him_ to do that job, but he does have a point. If we all fight against Orochimaru, our target might get either killed or injured, or he might even scape. Instead, if only someone goes and fights him to distract him, the rest of us can secure the target easily."

"But...!"

"Naruto..." Hinata interrupted her, before Naruto jumped any further away. "...Let me go with you."

"What?" Naruto and Sakura recoiled. The Hyuuga shook her head.

"I know you have a point, but you also are Konoha's Jiinchuuriki. We can't possibly let you do these kind of things alone, if you're killed or if something happens to you, one of the most important defenses of our village would be gone. You can't have Sasuke-kun because he's Orochimaru's target, Sakura-san is off charts, because she's a medical Ninja, and Kakashi-sensei is our strategist, and he can use Kamui to carry all of our targets. At least have me go with you. Please."

There was a relatively long silence, during which Sakura and Sasuke shared troubled looks, Kakashi stared at Naruto worriedly, and the redhead young man's breath was heard as he slept peacefully.

"You would follow me anyway, wouldn't you, Hinata?"

"Yes, I would."

Naruto smiled lowly and turned on his feet.

"Okay, come. We're short on time."

The black-haired girl jumped to the same tree branch, and both of them vanished through the dark woods, leaving no trace behind other than Naruto's Kyuubi chakra glowing behind him.

(...)

Only a minute had passed since they had left their squad. Up until then, a dense silence raged between them both, making it awkward to be together. Though Hinata wasn't sure whether or not Naruto's reason to be quiet was the same as hers... In her case, she just didn't want to put pressure on him, or making him feel like she wanted to talk about a topic he would rather have buried six feet under. Besides, even if she didn't agree with many things Sakura did or said, she did admit the pinkette captain had a point when she said missions were no place to hold on to personal relationships. And if what Naruto and that redhead man had said was true... If Orochimaru was really coming towards them, then it was all the more important for her to look sharp. Still...

"_Tch! Why does that idiot Haruno have to be such a pain in the ass __**all**__ the time? Here I am trying to make him feel better about her marriage to Sasuke-kun and she goes and blows it with her slutty temper... 'Taku!_" She shook her head, frowning. "_It's not like he's not getting over her anyway. He's being... So nice to me... And so kind. But I can tell. They __**were**__ a team... No, they __**are **__a team... They've been together for so long... It's the same with us. If I had married Shino or Kiba, one of the two would have reacted awkwardly at best... How painful must it be to him, when it was obvious that he loved her?_"

"Matte...!" Naruto stopped her with a hand sign, and both of them landed on a particularly hidden branch. It was all but submerged into the bushiest tree, giving them a nice hiding spot. Naruto deactivated his Kyuubi Chakra mode in the blink of an eye, and both Jounins held their backs against the trunk of that tree.

"What is it?" Hinata whispered lowly.

"He's close. I could feel it... Hell, I still can, even without using Kurama's chakra..."

"Kurama...?"

"Oh, right. Kurama is Kyuubi's real name. Actually..." Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, letting Hinata meditate in what she had just heard for a second. Then, not only did the blond's whisker-like marks become furrier, but his eyes redder and their pupils vertical. Hinata felt a slight cold sensation inside her throat.

"It's fine, girl. Don't be scared." Said a voice that had absolutely nothing similar to Naruto's, yet it came from Naruto's mouth all the same. "I'm Kurama. Nice to meet you... Though then again, I've known your Clan from the moment it even _became_ a Clan. Maybe it's more appropiate to say, good to see you again. You look a lot like your mother."

Hinata's eyes widened considerably, and she utterly forgot everything about the mission. "_What did he just say?!_" She gulped dry, but before she could ask Kurama anything else, he (obviously using Naruto's body) gazed behind the trunk slightly.

"I guess our introductions will have to wait, Hime-chan..." Kurama whispered. "...He's here. Watch Naruto's back, allright?"

"Y-yes. Count on me."

He blinked, and red was replaced by blue again, followed by the whisker marks returning to normal. Naruto (who seemed to be as surprised as Hinata due to Kurama's last minute revelation) did a perfect job ignoring his amazement to focus on the main event during that moment. Some slow steps were heard echoing throughout the whole area, a sound that combined with the darkness of the forest, made it all the more gloomy and grim. A set of viperish eyes seemed to act as lanterns from afar, deep in the dark, and Hinata could have sworn she heard the slow crawling of a snake on the ground, making twigs snap gently below its body.

"Get ready, Hinata. Actually, it might be useless to hide anyway, since he can very easily sense us..." Naruto was saying, when a cold, sharp voice cut him.

"...You stole the words from my mouth, Kyuubi brat. I guess you finally have swapped your stupidity for some perceptiveness?" The enemy grinned evilly, stopping in the middle of the woods where Hinata and the Jiinchuuriki awaited for him. "... It might also be better for you kids to come face me, too. You see, vipers _hate_ unnecessary efforts from their prey, especially when it will be eaten nonetheless."

Naruto snapped his tongue, annoyed, and asked Hinata to follow him with a head motion. Both of them landed with the agility of a night cat, making hardly any noise, and glared (Naruto's red pigmentation coming back, and Hinata's Byakuugan veins itching up).

"Huuuh... So you have become a Sennin as well? I see... Following the steps of that useless Godfather of yours." Orochimaru, who wore a black tunic much like the one those hooded ninjas wore, albeit without the hood, was accompanied by a snake the size of several people. Its tongue kept sissing in and out mockingly, as if the sight of both Konoha ninjas amused it.

"At least _I _can become a Sennin to begin with, Orochimaru. Unlike some." Naruto smirked as mockingly as the snake would have smirked, had it had a mouth. Orochimaru merely laughed shortly. Naruto's frown became more accentuated. "So... What is a man - if you can be called a man of course - of your caliber doing here, huh? What is it you're after...?"

"I presume you mean to ask what am I after besides the young man you have already captured?" His snaky eyes glowed with apparent hunger. "Well, answering that would be a very amusing tale... One that deserves a slightly better audience than the likes of you two, that is..."

"...Don't you _dare_ think I will let you put a hand on Sasuke again, you sick bastard..." Naruto weilded his three-pointed kunai, at the sight of which Orochimaru let out a tiny whistle.

"Handling Daddy's weaponry now? I see that fool Jiraiya did grow senile enough to give those things to you. Not that you would know what to do with them, anyway, right?"

Naruto greeted his teeth, and while ignoring Hinata's faint "wait!", he charged ahead, his rage quite apparent. Orochimaru kept laughing as the blond jiinchuuriki ran at him.

"My, my, still too hot headed to refrain from such bold attacks... Especially against a Sannin... How very foolish indeed."

"_Shut your trap!_" Naruto sliced the air around Orochimaru's head with his kunai, though the Sannin agilly avoided the offensive and countered using his snake. It moved as fast as a bullet, its fangs spilling a deadly looking liquid, though Naruto was able to dodge the bite leaning backwards and kicking the snake so his space towards Orochimaru was clear. He used a right roundhouse kick, which Orochimaru had no option left but to endure with his side arm. Right before the kick made contact, though, Naruto smiled.

"Who's foolish _now_, idiot?"

Naturally, and in the same way it had happened some time before against a certain orange-haired man, Naruto's Sage Mode kick was way too strong for the Sannin to withstood with only his bare arm. Not long after receiving the blow, a small shock wave spread like a spherical air bomb throughout the place and Orochimaru was sent against several trees, crushing through them as if they were made of glass.

"Naruto, stop charging ahead like that...!" Hinata said, walking to where he was. "...You need to be a bit more thoughtful..."

"Heh, would you really love me if I was like that?"

"_Ack. Good point._" Hinata glared at the place where Orochimaru had been sent to. He had walked his way back, stumbling in the usual, zombie-like way with which all the ones who knew him felt creeped out. Either he enjoyed pain, or simply had a pride higher than his chakra pool, but whichever it was, he was still laughing.

"Such brute strenght..." He licked his bottom lip, making some noise while at it. "...Maybe it _is_ fitting for a brute like you, Kyuubi kid. Perhaps I should also give you a small taste of power?"

"Go ahead and try, freak. I'll take you on any time." Naruto answered, as Orochimaru bit his thumb and made handseals as fast as possible.

"It _is_ two on one, however. We should make sure the odds are even whenever fighting, don't you think?" The White Snake said grinning. He put his right hand on the ground, and several black kanji-like marks decorated the grass beneath said hand. Following this, and a small poof of white smoke, Naruto and Hinata's eyes were struck by fear and surprise as a ghostly, grim coffin rose from the ground as some sort of elevator from Hell.

On it, a black symbol that was frighteningly familiar to the both of them sent all kinds of negative feelings to their bodies. The blond jiinchuuriki growled in rage as he and Orochimaru exchanged looks.

"You didn't..."

The sole symbol on the coffin was a svastika, with two horizontal lines pointing at each of its sides. That had been all it had taken for both he and Hinata to understand what, or _who_ was inside the coffin. As its door slided open noisily, the sight of Hyuuga Neji's body was seen. There were marks all around his body, as if he was made of paper. Naruto deactivated his Sennin mode and let himself be engulfed in lightmade flames and black marks. An ethereal robe flapped as if it was actual material, and a thick, highly compressed Rasengan formed on Naruto's hand right away.

"HOW _DARE _YOU?!"

Orochimaru received the furious technique right on his stomach, which unleashed an explosive reaction. The amount of golden chakra used on Yondaime's original technique created a small typhoon of light that surrounded the Sannin and blasted him away further than Naruto's previous kick. At this point, though, Neji's corpse had opened his eyes, and one of Hinata's nightmares became true. A serious fight to the death with Neji was due.

Neji stepped out of the coffin slowly, and gazed around.

"What... Where am I...?" His face finally met the blond's and Hinata's. His blackened eyes were hit by momentary shock.

"Naruto? Hinata-sama? But... Don't tell me you two are...!" He remained quiet for a while, seeing Hinata's expression become shadowy, and Naruto looking at him with significant eyes. Neji's expression gained understanding.

"I see. There are still people out there willing to go this far... And they have summoned me. Right?"

"It's Orochimaru..." Naruto said, his Bijuu Mode fading away for the moment. "...Neji, I..."

"...Naruto."

Hinata's voice resonated through the woods. Neji and Naruto stared at her, while her face rose and showed a expression of determination that Naruto seldom saw on her, let alone Neji. Her determination was mixed with what seemed to be... Rage. And Naruto had to take a second to meditate on the implications that suggested. A person as calm and kind as Hinata, someone who would gardly ever lose her temper over anything, would never fit into Naruto's (or anybody's) definition of "scary". But it was also true that those who never let their temper out could be unfathomably dangerous when they actually _did_. And right now, the Hyuuga heiress' eyes showed such rage that Naruto feared for his life for a moment. Her chakra was boiling furiously.

"...I'll take care of this. Please go after _him_..." Hinata said, trembling with what was surely anything but fear. Neji smiled at the sight of her expression. "...I will never be able to forgive that man... For stepping over Niisan's memory like this. And I won't _allow_ him to use Niisan as his puppet. But I'm no good against a man like _him_. Please, Naruto..."

The blond jiinchuuriki composed a smile, closing his eyes and holding Hinata's hand for a moment. He gave it a short squeeze like before, and gave her a bit of his chakra (which covered her momentarily like a fox mantle). Then, he walked forward, stopping for a brief second beside Neji.

"I never got to say this, but..."

Neji looked at him silently, as Hinata stood in her battle position, her Byakuugan activated.

"...Thank you."

"Thank _you_, Naruto. Despite what you see now... I_ am _free. Look." He used his thumb to pat his forehead twice, showing how his Caged Bird Seal was gone. "Right now, all that matters is that you're both safe... And I'll just serve as a test to measure Hinata-sama's growth. That makes me happy. So keep going. Orochimaru awaits."

"Yeah..." Naruto smiled, and activated his Kyuubi Chakra mode once more, after which he would run towards the place where the Sannin had been sent flying to.

"Hinata-sama..." Neji said, getting his battle stance ready. "...I hope you manage to beat me this time."

"I _will._" Hinata said, rushing towards her cousin and getting to the fight with a strong resolve.

I hope the battle writing doesn't disappoint you guys! Thank you for your reviews and for following this fic. Makes my day!


	6. Snow

Hello guys! Welcome back! It's been a while, and I can imagine what kind of expectations you have for next chapter! I personally don't think I have written any chapter better than this one in terms of the drama behind fighting that one person you hold dear. But of course, this story is young and so am I, I'm sure we'll see even more interesting, touching battles.

Almost 5000 people have read my fic, or at least viewed it, and I know you guys are inside that huge group, so I want to say thank you to all of those who have been following the story so passionately, despite the mistakes I might make due to my language skills and whatnot.

Have a good read!

[...]

VI. Snow.

[...]

"Are you sure you want to do this...? There's really nothing we can get from him other than ruining the good mood."

While his steps echoed throughout the uncomfortable, narrow corridor, the masked ninja pushed a relatively small wheelchair, in which a blue-haired woman was sitting. She had a determined look in her eyes, as if they were burning with the desire of something more important than her apparent physical lack of mobility. She had worn fresh, white clothes directly from the hospital she had been living up until then, and the fabric almost had as much light within itself as the shyly diminute torches trying awkwardly to illuminate the hallway. She nodded at hearing the man's question.

"I think _I'm_ the only one who should actually talk to him. And also the only one who _can, _perhaps." Konan looked behind herself prudently. "I take it he was from Konoha?"

"Yeah."

"Any ideas what might have happened that turned him into... Well... _That_?" Konan asked, looking forward again, while she sensed her "bodyguard" going a bit apprehensive whenever the subject was brought up.

"From what I could gather, he witnessed the loss of a comrade who he loved dearly... At the hands of _another_ comrade, who he apparently considered a friend."

"Is that so? And how did that happen...? Which comrades were they?" Konan suddenly felt quite interested. As soon as the masked ninja had mentioned "losing a comrade thanks to another comrade", her mind automatically flew back to her past, when she felt the pain of being powerless in front of the world's cruel reality... When _her_ comrades had to follow the same path.

"Nohara Rin, from Medical Corps... She was a rookie Medical Ninja. And Hatake Kakashi, who by that time wasn't known as the Copy Nin, yet."

"What...?" Konan looked at the masked man again, her eyes wide open due to surprise and a feeling of guilt that, strangely, didn't belong to her. But it was there. As if, somehow, she had found a small connection to Kakashi in a hurricane of dead bonds in which no such word as "comrade" or even "friend" existed anymore. And that small connection made her feel guilty of listening to a man that had been his ally.

"I guess he was in love with her...?" Konan asked, turning her head again, feeling the road to a certain cell get shorter.

"You'll have to ask him that yourself, I'm afraid." The hooded ANBU made a right turn a bit harshly, and walked a few steps forward, until both of them reached the only cell in that floor. Or in the whole building, for that matter. A building that stood as one of the most feared prisons ever conceived by men in the Shinobi World. Jigoku.

There, in the midst of the darkest darkness possible, despite the constant cracking of the same torches and the faint, ghostly light emanating from Konan's clothes, a man about as old as Konan herself was gazing through the window... He was tall, well proportioned, and his hair gave the sensation of being made of darkness. He looked worn out. At least, as far as Konan could see. He was giving his back to them.

"What do you want...?" His cold voice asked away, leaving it clear that he had sensed them coming long ago.

"Are you sure that you want to go inside, miss...?" The ANBU enquired, seemingly fearing the worst that could happen. Konan smiled lowly, putting her hand right on his and giving it a small pat.

"Isn't this cell like, completely isolated from people and any possible Chakra sources? Plus, the Chakra one may have is constantly being drawin by these walls unless one has a seal like yours, isn't that right, Sekai-san? I'm sure I'll be fine... He doesn't even look like he would do anything funny."

"Yeah, you're right about the first thing. Okay. I'll... Wait outside. Scream or whatever if something happens."

"Roger."

Sekai made half a seal with his right hand, and a loud "CLANG" was heard, echoing all the way to the entrance door, perhaps. He pushed the wheelchair so it would be right in front of the sole prisoner, and then left without further ado, his robe flapping muffedly as he walked away.

"That voice..." The man turned his head, or rather, slightly moved it to the right, as if considering it uninteresting to actually see his visitor. "...You couldn't be...?"

"Konan. Yeah."

She squeezed the wheelchair's armrest with her hands for a bit, as the man wrapped in the darkness of the room walked towards the only bed... If that could be considered a bed... And sat on it, a pair of different coloured lights shining from his eyes. Purple and red. He apparently agreed with Konan, mentally, that having a conversation whilst in such blackness was completely unnecessary. Especially when looking at each other's eyes was prime priority. He moved his left hand, and activated a small lamp-like torch, resting in the wall beside his bed.

"What are you doing here...?"

"I just have some questions."

"How are you even alive...? I thought..."

"Well, then I'm happy to see you get the same feeling I had while I was losing our fight. Though unlike you, I can't really say I survived due to my abilities or my skills... I thought myself dead. But I was found by that ANBU who just left and his squad. They gave me first aid, took me to Konoha and had me treated by the Hokage and her assistant. I was lucky." Konan snorted while smiling. "Why, I didn't even want to survive... But at the same time, I just didn't die. My body just didn't stop moving... Working. I had lost the will to live, but apparently not my life itself. Now, I think I'm glad it went that way."

"Is that what you came here for? To tell me how my killing you turned out to be a failure and how you now live in that little rainbow world of yours? Please. I could care less."

"I know. I just felt like telling you."

"And now I just feel like throwing up."

Konan let out a faint chuckle, which gradually became loud laughter... But not an insane one. No. She was laughing from her heart, there was happiness coming out of her, and after several seconds of gasping and holding laughter back somehow, Konan stopped. Wiped out some grinning tears, and looked at the man.

"What's so funny?" He asked aggresively.

"The fact that, in the end... You and I shared way more than I had ever thought. And yet life decided our future to be so different... Or perhaps it wasn't life who decided anything, but _us_? I wonder. Anyway, it _is_ funny. In a way, you and I could have been close friends... We could have found shelter on each other's arms. In fact..."

She looked closely at the man's face, which was torn in two. His right side was completely scarred and damaged. His left was unscathed, and was the one that gave her the feeling of speaking with someone her age.

"...Now that I can actually see _what_ lies behind the mask, I almost felt like hugging you."

"It seems Tsunade did way more than just treating your wounds..." The man snorted, folding his arms. "...Perhaps her medical beverages had a couple illegal chemicals? Funguses? Herbs? You pick one. Though I'd say only Genjutsu, especially one as strong as the one from my Clan, could leave someone as mentally handicapped as you are. You and I _sharing_? Is that supposed to be funny?"

"Your name is Uchiha Obito, right?"

"You can call me _that, _Madara, Tobi... It makes no difference to me."

"I'll take that as a _yes._.. It's nice to meet you Obito. And by the way... We do share a lot. I pressume you're familiar with seeing your comrades killing each other? Or more like... Seeing the person you love be killed by the one you trust as your friend?"

Silence. Obito's expression changed from sarcastic, bossy and arrogant, to enraged and hurt. All in less than a second. Konan smiled mockingly.

"You know, the best thing about dealing with those who "kill their emotions", is that you'll always find that one thing that triggers even the slightest emotion from them. And the feeling you get from making them realize how stupid they are for neglecting their condition as human beings, is actually priceless... If only I had a mirror with me... You'd be able to look at your own face, and see how much you care about _those two_."

"What do you want?" Obito said, his folded hands squeezing his biceps angrily.

"_Where_ is Nagato's right eye?" Konan said calmly, though her smile disappeared instantly, and her face showed once more the fire and determination from minutes ago. "Where is Nagato's Rinnegan?"

[...]

"**_HAKKE KUUSHOU_**!"

The only reason why it was slightly possible to listen to those two words for a short second, was that the two persons who shouted them loudly danced, or rather, moved with such grace and such fluency before actually launching their attacks, that any man, woman or child watching the fight would have thought they were not fighting, but trying to seduce each other... Sort of.

It was a common, known fact that the Hyuuga Clan from Konoha housed the most beautiful and graceful battle style of all times, since long ago. No other style could bring so many people interested into battles to begin with. Many Taijutsu techniques and moves were inspired in the Hyuuga's soft Taijutsu and Juuken, and though these imitations have often gained enough reputation on their own right, the Hyuuga style remains unbeaten. But only those who had actually battled a Hyuuga realized how scary that beautiful style was. Not being able to use Chakra. Not being able to move. Having all your movements read one by one. all your ninjutsu and shuriken jutsu nullified... Certainly, unless some sort of careful planning had been made beforehand, giving your all against a Hyuuga will probably take you as close as a sweat drop from his or her body.

And _this_ battle... This battle was out of anybody's expectations. Nobody was watching, but it was a battle that could easily be remembered for the rest of the course of history itself. It was not often that two members of the Hyuuga Clan fought to death... Least of all the most unlikely of those: Hyuuga Neji, a deceased genius, and Hyuuga Hinata, the current heiress. Just the name of the first technique had been cried out, and there were already furious holes in several tree logs. Neji and Hinata spun to their left, and attacked once more, yelling the same name for a second time. Their right palms stroke the air violently, as if using phsychic abilities to repel the atmosphere itself. The air could actually be seen, as a transparent blur, a colorless beam of wind that flew angrily towards its target. Each Hyuuga's heart.

However, both attacks clashed in mid air, making it explode like an invisible shockwave that forced both Neji and Hinata to back off several feet, by mere inertia. They looked at each other, Hinata gasping lowly and glaring at her cousin with her Byakuugan making her glare more threatening than it usually is.

"You've become strong, Hinata-sama. Stronger than I had expected. How much time has passed...?" Neji said, smiling kindly, unlike what he usually did in life. Hinata deactivated her Byakuugan for a moment, though she didn't break her battle stance. She was still mad. Very mad. But in her expression, there were also feelings of sadness, for having to face the person she wanted to face the least in battle... And of happiness, because she had secretly dreamed of seeing him again.

"Three to four months. It's been a bit hard to keep the record, since many things have happened after you died..."

"Tell me... Can I safely assume you won the war?"

"Yes."

"Then, Madara...? And that man who was Kakashi-sensei's friend...? The Juubi?"

"Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara were way too strong for us to handle. At least with the Juubi. We had to seal them away and _then_ focus in the Juubi... It's a miracle so many of us survived the fight against that monster."

"_Seal_ them away? How?"

"Uchiha Obito was sent to Jigoku, alone, after he and Kakashi-sensei had their battle. Madara fought with our unexpected reinforcements... The Edo Tensei Versions of The First Hokage-sama, Nidaime-sama, Sandaime-sama and Yondaime-sama."

"What?! How is that even possible...? Who brought them back?!"

"The same man who brought you, apparently." Hinata activated her Byakuugan again, regaining her intimidating glare. "For some reason, he left them do as they pleased during the war... It's thanks to them that we actually won. And Naruto as well. The fact that we encountered Orochimaru today is simply bad luck during our mission... But... As soon as I'm over with this, I'm going to help Naruto as much as I can."

"Huuuuh..." Neji smiled again, his blackened eyes depicting an expression that Hinata had never seen in him before, unless he was sparring with Lee. "...That's a nice source of confidence you have right there. Good. You will need it against me. Have you finally mastered _it_, Hinata-sama?"

But she said nothing more, and rather dashed towards Neji with her hands ready to attack. The brown-haired Hyuuga had little time to even worry about stances, and guarded as he could. Hinata went for his left shoulder first, but Neji deflected her hand upwards with his left arm. Hinata used the same deflected arm to strike Neji's left arm downwards, leaving him half-open to attacks. Hinata then attacked with her left hand, which moved as fast as an arrow, though Neji spun on himself like a top and countered with a low kick. Hinata did the same, spinning towards the opposite direction and stopping Neji's kick with her own. The clash forced them both to back off again, after which they returned to exchange blows. Neji went for Hinata's stomach, but she stopped his hand dead with both her palms.

"Bad choice for an attack..." She said, grabbing Neji's hand from the wrist.

"Nice reflects, Hinata-sama...!"

Hinata pulled Neji's arm closer, and raid it with incredibly fast attacks done with her index and heart fingers alone, from her left hand. Neji's right hand went numb afterwards, and though his Jounin uniform's black cloth hid the small, red dotted spots that her Juuken had hit in his arm, Hinata knew they were there. Her cousin smiled.

"Good job. But it's not over yet... Remember that I can activate the flow of Chakra again whenever I want with my own arm. You'll have to hit the Chakra circulation points in my left arm too, if you really want to rid me of my arms and my Juuken!"

"I'm on it."

Hinata launched a full attack right on Neji's chest, though she had of course underestimated her cousin's genius at the Hyuuga's Taijutsu Style. She used her _both _hands to attack as fast as she could, yet he only used _one_ to guard against each of her attacks. She stopped suddenly, leaving his arm in the open. Hinata made to hit his arm with her right hand's index and heart fingers together, but at the same time, Neji decided to spin on himself towards his left side, completely hiding his arm from her attack and countering with a roundhouse kick directed to her belly. Hinata rose her left leg the same height as her waist, and stopped the kick dead. She deflected it, and went back to Neji's left arm.

"Wrong... You should have Juuken'd my leg as well, Hinata-sama..."

"What?!"

He was right. As Hinata dashed towards his arm, Neji took the advantage of Hinata's deflecting his leg to spin in the other direction, and he did it with so much speed and focusing so much Chakra, that Hinata had only a few seconds to react without getting blown. She jumped back as Neji's Chakra covered him in a blue, spinning fortress. However...

"_His Kaiten is slowing down more rapidly, because he's not using his right arm. If could just..._"

She aimed carefully, as her cousin's Kaiten slowly ended spinning. Then, she hit the air with her palm again.

"Hakke Kuushou!"

The vacuum aired strike towards Neji's chest, and caught him by surprise. The Edo Tensei'd ninja fell back, but before his body hit the ground, Hinata had shown up behind him. Neji's eyes widened greatly. It was just as if he was fighting with Lee, and as if he had just gone for a Hidden Lottus just then. "_How did Hinata-sama get this fast?!"_. Hinata touched the middle of his back gently, and yelled the same words from before again. The vacuum air made Neji fly upwards, all the way to the top of the trees, from where he could easily see how fast Hinata moved, jumping from the ground to the branches, to where he was in a matter of seconds.

"If you _did_ master it, Hinata-sama, this is the time to use it!" He spun on himself again, despite being in mid-air. From the amount of Chakra he was about to release, Hinata could tell he was about to kill her the moment she got nearer. She frowned and greeted her teeth on fury, cursing Orochimaru for turning Neji in nothing more than a killing machine. She jumped towards him as he continued the spinning, and she herself joined his act by spinning towards the opposite direction. Their voices echoed throughout the entire forest:

"**_CHOU HAKKESHOU KAITEN!_**_**!**_"

Two gigantic spheres of blue chakra surrounded both Hyuuga members, spinning like a star and expanding like a furious bomb. The contact between the two Kaiten attacks not only made both explosions harsher, but created a shock-wave of vacuum air that obliterated several trees on their whole. Hinata and Neji continued spinning like human tops, their clash sending sparks all over the place, until Neji's Kaiten sphere finally got smaller than Hinata's, and eventually vanished. Neji was then pulled in by the force created within Hinata's Kaiten, as are meteors attracted to planets once they enter they gravitational zone. As he so much as touched the sphere, his cousin's attack slashed him continuously like a hundred kunais, though the damage was done within. Had he had any actual vital organs, he would have died the second he made contact with her Kaiten.

Hinata stopped spinning in mid-air, which sent Neji flying downwards and threw him to the ground aggressively. His body landed in the messiest way possible, hitting several tree logs and rubble, and leaving a ground trail behind him. But Hinata didn't land yet. She used her slight floating advantage to attack again. Neji's eyes, which had widened for many moments throughout the battle and more than they had during his lifetime's battles, went wider this time as she spun on herself, but did not elaborate another Kaiten. instead, thin stripes of what appeared to be blue light were gracefully coming out of the tip of her palms.

"**_Shugohakke Rokujuuyon Shou!_**"

Another blue sphere surrounded Hinata this time, but instead of a spinning one, this one was made of countless stripes of blue Chakra, and the more Hinata spun on herself while she gracefully fell down to the ground, the more the sphere expanded and the closer it got to Neji, who smiled as he felt Hinata's strongest attach reach him and take him out as it did with the environment.

"_Finally, Hiashi-sama... This is the daughter you wanted..._."

Hinata landed right in front of him. Around them, many of the forest's trees were reduced to nothing thanks to Hinata's attack, which turned the place in a considerably wide glade. Neji tried to move and stand up, but he then noticed how every single part of his body was _visually_ hurt, slashed, thanks to her technique. There were countless slashes throughout his body, arms and even face, which caused his Edo Tensei Reincarnation to begin fading away in the form of gray pieces of paper. He was beginning to regennerate. Hinata pulled out a regular kunai, and threw it to him... the kunai pierced his heart all the way to the tree log behind him, nailing him to it. Furthermore, as he caught with his eyes, the kunai's strange kanji-like markings in the handle reacted to his body. It was a Fuuin Jutsu. Neji smiled yet again.

"Impressive, Hinata-sama. Really impressive."

"I wish..." Hinata kneeled down and put a hand on his cheek. "...I wish you could have stopped calling me that long before you died, Niisan..."

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't the reason you hated me the fact that the Main Family and the Branch Family could never be too close to each other, unless it was about protection...? All what happened to your father... To you... I wish you had let go of all that, by calling me Hinata. Simply Hinata."

"I stopped hating you a long time ago, Hinata-sama. Even before Naruto left for those years..." Neji closed his eyes. "...My fight with him... Losing to him was what made me let go of my past and all what I thought I knew about my father and yours... Yes... Naruto is not only important to you, Hinata-sama. I obviously can't marry him or say that I love him, but... I'm glad that I could be his comrade and die protecting the both of you."  
He let out a tiny chuckle, while Hinata's tears began to flow.

"... You two are together, aren't you...?I could see it in his eyes, before he left."

"Yes... Kind of."

"Kind of?"

"Sasuke-kun returned to the village... He's married Sakura-san, and you can imagine how hard that was for him... So I'm trying to make him feel better... And while at it, well, we..." She blushed a bit, even while crying, which made her look incredibly cuter than what she usually looked. Neji's laughter was louder this time.

"Hiashi-sama is going to kill him..." He covered his face with his palm, smirking. Hinata remained crying silently, as Neji's body started fading into the Kunai's Fuuin Jutsu.

"Hinata-sama..."

"Yes?"

"Remember what I said that time...? When it was snowing...?"

[...]

**_TWO YEARS AGO_**

[...]

She couldn't hear anything. She knew there was music, that hundreds and hundreds of people were present, that perhaps many of those hundreds were locked up in the same world of agony, the same dimension of pain she was. The leaves of Konohagakure had refrained from falling that day, and as sunset colored everything red and gold, the Hyuuga Mansion somehow seemed to be made of some of wood mixed with orhialcum, or some sort of golden, fantastic material. But she could not understand a single thing of everything that was happening. Why was it that the mansion chose to look so beautiful precisely _that_ day? Or why is it that all these people finally come to understand the importance of _that_ person when it's too late?

Why does everybody seem to get the right picture of things, when they are already powerless to do anything? Is it that they were too busy? Too scared? Is it that they thought it wasn't their business to meddle with? Or perhaps they actually thought that person could simply carry on, nurturing the village with that tremendously big love of hers, while not receiving nearly as big as much as she was giving away? Were they actually stupid enough to believe that she was going to live forever? that she was going to stay there with them, for as long as the village was alive?

_No...  
_

It was her. It was Hinata herself... It was Hinata, the one wearing black memorial outfit, standing in the middle of her mourning, yet serious father and her just as serious younger sister... It was _that_ Hinata, her fists trembling with pain, and her eyes beginning to sting with tears, the one who actually thought that person, that beautiful woman, with blueish dark hair that was inherited by Hinata, with face features that resembled the latter as much as did the hair, and with a faint, little smile on that same face, though everybody knew she couldn't even see anymore, was going to live forever.

Her coffin had her name written on her...

_**HYUUGA HANABIRA**_

"_Okaa-san..._" Hinata thought bitterly, saying to herself that as a Shinobi, she shouldn't be showing her weaknesses off like that... But then again, all shinobi tried to act tough and cold whenever they are not the ones struck by the death of a loved one. Once they are the ones affected... Does that rule still apply? Is it bad if one still wants to cry and be weak for a little while? She was fifteen, a kid for many... Little more than a baby to her father. Would it be such a big deal if she showed weakness in front of all those strangers from which only about a quarter Hinata could actually say they really cared about her mother?

"Hinata-sama..."

The male, deep voice reached her ears and made her finally come back from her outer dimension. The music filling the place finally was coming to her ears too, and the air she was breathing had at last, a taste. It was like she had woken up from a dream, though she was not sure which was the dream anymore. Both were just as bad. Both were worlds without _her_. She turned around to find the source of the voice that had called her, and found Neji right behind her. For some reason, locking eyes with him had activated (if such was the right word to use) the natural effect of Konoha's trees. Leaves and flowers started falling again... Neji looked very sad, but he was still smiling. It was a smile too painful to watch, though Hinata did wonder what was more painful to watch in the first place... _His _expression, or _hers.  
_

_"_Come. Being here won't do you any good... Come with me."

Hinata merely nodded, and let Neji take her hand and guide her out and away from the turmoil, the crowd and the rest of the Hyuuga Main Family's coldness. While she feared she would get lost while walking behind him and trying to avoid so many people without pushing them, she also felt happy that Neji had taken the initiative and found her. She wouldn't have known what to do, stuck between the most painful thing that had ever happened to her and the fact that any and all tears shed would only feed her father's disappointment and Hanabi's superiority complex even further. She didn't know what to do even there, walking behind her cousin. Though at least that moment, she felt like she could at least be a little weak, if only for a few minutes.

Before she noticed, both she and Neji were on the Mansion's balcony. An especial place in which Hinata liked to spend a lot of time alone or with her friends from Team 8 whether it be to think, to play shogi, to see them training or get a great glimpse of the whole Konoha. Hyuuga's mansion was huge enough to have ascending territory, and right there, sitting on the wooden corridor and letting their feet hang from the edge, Hinata noticed how it was already getting dark.

"I know what you are going through..."

Hinata's face was suddenly shadowy, her blueish dark hair concealing most of her, and her hands shaking. Neji's eyes looked down at the village, and though he didn't cry, he did seem sad. He rested his right arm on his right knee and sighed.

"I know it's the Main Family's sort of... Self imposed rule, not to cry or show that you're weak in the inside. But right now, there's no Main Family Hyuuga watching. I'm a Branch Hyuuga, you see. And we do mourn our dead. Properly."

"Don't say that word...!" Hinata whispered weakly, and almost in a begging tone. She looked at him, her white gray eyes goint wet on the edges, and her hands shaking even more. She put her hand on her forehead and shook her head in a negative motion over and over again. Neji looked at her, both worried and sympathetically.

"Hinata-sama... You won't be able to move on unless you accept her fate. I'm _not_ saying she had to die like _this..._" He added, as he saw Hinata's expression. "... I stopped believing in fate a long time ago. But... It reaches all of us. Death. It never stays away from any of us for any reason in particular. It reaches us, never late or early, but on the time it is supposed to. Hanabira-sama didn't have to die like this, true... But... Her role _was_ already close enough to be over. And now it has been trusted on to you, Hinata-sama..."

"I can't do it..." Hinata hugged herself. "...I can't replace my mother. I'm not anything like her. I don't have the strength..."

"If you keep believing that, I'll eventually surpass you and take on your title by force. Do get soft on me, and I promise I'll make you pay for it." Neji replied strongly. Hinata looked at him, and saw half his Byakuugan active.

"What do you think you're going to do for Naruto when he arrives, with that pitiful attitude...? What do you think he would say to you if he saw you like this? And bear in mind that he's been alone since the start. He's gone through much more than both you and I. How are your arms supposed to reach him... Unless you beat me, unless you surpass me? I was beaten by him, but I'm still stronger than you. Do you think it should still be that way?"

"Stronger than me?!" Hinata half-activated her Byakuugan. Today was _not_ the day for anybody to mistake her for the little girl everybody chose to not give a damn about, or to even think that they could screw with. She had no longer any patience or any sense of shame to go and spit up everything she was holding back, everything and anything she had held back for the sake of trying to be as good as her mother, or perhaps even better. But the truth was, inside... Her mother kept a graceful swan inside, flying, dancing, infatuating every single breathing soul around it. But inside Hinata, there was no swan. No gracefulness, no flying and no dancing. Hinata's soul was the roar of a lioness, and it slashed everything up, destroyed it and ate it aggressively as it saw fit.

"Do prove to me how are you stronger than me?! Last I checked, little man, _I _was the heiress of this Clan. The one appointed to take the lead of it and represent the cornerstone of the next generation. You think a little Byakuugan glaring is going to intimidate _me_? You're almost _cute_!" She completely activated her Byakuugan, and greeted her teeth loudly, standing up and adopting the Juuken fighing style. But to her surprise, Neji's Byakuugan was all but gone, and on his expression was a simple, honest smile.

"There it is. The Hinata I've been trying to see since forever ago. Good. This is what I need from my superior. Otherwise, she'd have to step down." He turned his gaze back to the village, leaving Hinata ready for battle and heated up for nothing. He chuckled, as she deactivated her Byakuugan and sat next to him.

"Did you know...?" Neji looked at the night sky once. "...They say that snow is one of the natural phenomenons that represent us Hyuuga members the most. Do you know why...?"

"Why?" Hinata asked, coiling up and wondering if it was okay to let her head rest in his shoulder.

"...Because, they say that our ancestors, our past leaders and mentors who died in battle or due to sickness, ascended to the sky in the form of crystals. Big crystals of ice. Not in the funerals, of course, but sometime after buried... When we can't see. And they say that when it snows, it means that they can sense your sadness and are crying with you. That's why, whenever it's snowing, you can feel the snowflakes melt on your hands, but it never gets cold until way later... They want to let you know that they're with you, and that they will cry enough for what you don't. That's one of the reasons behind Hiashi-sama's and the rest of the Hyuuga Main Family's lack of tears. But you know what else...?"

"What...?" Hinata had momentarily forgotten about her sadness and looked upwards, like Neji, as if trying to see any snowflakes.

"Sometimes snow makes people happy right? Kids play with it and whatnot... And, truth be told, the snow is beautiful. Isn't it kind of sad to make it only relate to tears...? That's why, we Branch Hyuuga members are always saying that when it's snowing, our people are not telling you to be sad or to cry, more like they're telling you to let go of the tears you need to let go of, and then move on. Of course, you can't play with your tears, so our people take the form of white snow so you can play with it, and smile right after crying. So you can make happier memories with it, and be stronger than what you are now. Oh, look!"

Sure enough, there was certainly some truth to what Neji had just randomly explained. Though they were in the middle of spring, there was white snow falling from the sky, and poking the ground. Hinata didn't feel cold, but rather looked back at where her mother's coffin would be, and then back at Neji, who nodded.

"Yes... She already wants you to be stronger, Hinata-sama. Both of us. So, you're more than free to go ahead and cry."

As one of the snowflakes poked Hinata's face, right below her left eye, she kept looking at Neji, before she finally broke down and sobbed like she had never done before. Neji held her. And the snow fell harder as Hinata's tears fell with it.

[...]

"...Y-yes... I remember." Hinata smiled, crying a bit harder now.

"Look... It seems she was also watching over me, Hinata-sama." Neji pointed his head up, and Hinata could see snow falling around them. Just like that time, another snowflake touched Hinata's face below her left eye, as if her mother had just put her hand on her cheek.

"You really have surpassed me. You're worthy of being the heiress of our Clan."

"Neji-niisan... I..." Hinata wiped out her tears and smiled while the snow kept falling. "...Our Clan will never be the same without the three of you. Hizashi-sama, you and Okaa-san... But Otou-sama and Hanabi-chan are here with me still. I'll... I'll make sure our next generation surpasses the both of us. For your sake. So please..."

She took Neji's right hand with hers, and squeezed it.

"Please keep watching over us..."

"Of course." Neji smiled, and he was finally sealed completely. His whole body faded away and was sucked up by the kunai's absorbing seal. The only thing Hinata could hear as Neji's presence evaporated away was...

"_Don't leave Naruto's side...We'll watch over him, too."_

The last couple of tears falling down to the ground, Hinata smiled and looked up to the sky. She swore she could see three little birds dancing and playing with the snow as she walked away and saved her kunai in her holster carefully.

[...]

"_Shit... I _did_ say that I would only fight him long enough for them to escape with our target and those freaks... But messing around with Neji and Hinata like that... How can I even try to overlook that?! Damned Orochimaru...!"_

Naruto furiously ran through the forest, trusting his emotional sensing abilities during his Full Bijuu Mode. His ethereal robe kept flapping around like a real one would, and the light shining from his flaming, sun-like chakra was strong enough to illuminate for a good hundred meters forward or so. He was torn between three very important, personal decisions. Number one: he wanted to check on Hinata. He didn't want to think the worst possible scenario, and it was his duty as her teammate and as a fellow Konoha ninja to believe in her strenght. But and Edo Tensei, and one of Neji, at that...?

Number two: he was also worried for the safety of his team. Those hooded ninja were still with them, and though they were unconscious, people with Orochimaru's chakra could always get unfathomably powerful, from situations that seemed impossible. The whole reason Shikamaru's mission with him, Neji, Kiba and Chouji failed that time, was because of _this_ exact kind of people. He was now wondering if he was better off running back to them.

And Number three: he had long since promised himself that whenever possible, he would not kill. Anybody. He didn't feel like he was in the right to end a person's life, no matter what kind of person it was. It could have been the worst criminal ever, the worst psychopath, sociopath ever to come across his path, yet he would always go for the peaceful option. Locking him up, punishing him, even torturing him to a certain point... Which was still wrong, but... He tried to refrain from killing. Yet, this time... With Orochimaru...

"_Tch!_" His steps were gradually stronger, leaving small holes in the ground as he ran towards the direction in which Orochimaru had been thrown to. "_How can peace even possibly exist, when there are people like him out there in the world, toying around with people's lives and the deaths of their loved ones? Whenever someone like him arises, hatred is bound to appear... Even from my heart! I'm no God after all... There is no God..."_

_"__**The fact that there is no God merely proves that there was never need for one."**_A familiar, growling voice said from within himself. Though he didn't spiritually go to speak with the Fox Bijuu, Naruto listened to him carefully. "**_What do you think you would do, if there was a God?"_**

"I'd probably leave everything in His hands, and sit down and relax. Yeah... I'd probably slack off, thinking he'll take care of everything else."

"**_Precisely. You know, old man Rikudou did say something once..."_**

"Huuuh? I thought _someone_ didn't like talking about the Rikudou Sennin..." Naruto teased, as he sensed Orochimaru's "malice" closer by the second.

"**_Not the time. Just shut it and listen... He said that, bringing peace to the world would mean that there was no peace to begin with, right?_**"

"Well, yeah. That would only be the logical guess."

"**_And why do you think there was no peace before?_**"

"Because people wouldn't try to seize it? They would give in to their hatred?"

"**_You got it. Sort of. See, war is born from hatred, and peace is born from love. That's what you people usually think... But there are plenty of wars created for the sake of people's love towards someone or something. And also peace that was born merely to supress the boiling hatred that's inside. So, if peace can be born brom both hatred and love, and so can war, how are you going to bring peace, Naruto?"_**

"...I..." Naruto squeezed his own fists hardly, thinking deeply about his own feelings, especially in times when something like what had just happened with Orochimaru happens again. And even more especially, in times in which he had to face the same frustration he had to face whenever he and Sakura crossed eyes. "... If I had to answer logically, I'd say that it's impossible. Because as it happens with moral terms, like "right" and "wrong" and "justice", "love" and "hatred" can change between people's hearts... The love I feel could easily be another's hatred. And even if I try to understand why, no, even if I _do _understand why, there's no telling whether or not I can change that difference. It _is _clear enough that you can't change all people. Some are just too submerged in their own worlds...

"**_I'm glad that you get the picture as realistcally as I expected you to. But then, what do you think the Rikudou would do? After all he _****did****_ bring peace to this world once. Does that mean that he was able to change all people? Or what do you think he did?_**"

"I think... I think he did change _all_ people. In his own way. I think he heard every person's problem. He lend an ear to each one of them, and whenever he could, even a hand. But as I say... In his own way..."

"_**And what is that way?**_"

"I think what he did was make people preach what he himself used to preach. Let them be their own Rikuodu. Let people be their own people's Messiah...Teach them, talk to them, and more importantly, showing them what love is."

"**_And what is love?_**"

"Love is...To never give up. To never back down... Or run away. To always be there. Not because of things, but despite of them. Learning to accept both hatred and love from others. Like my Father loved my mother for who she was, despite that everyone else saw her as an intruder. Like my Mother loved my Father despite his laid-back, carefree attitude. Or like the way I loved both of them, despite the fact that they were never here with me, or that they sealed you inside me. Love is... Always see the bigger picture. Always see what's great within what's not so great... I love my parents because instead of sealing a Fox Demon inside me, they gave me a friend that watched over me and kept me alive up until now."

"**_Heh... Get real. I'm not going to flatter you or anything for saying cute stuff._**"

"Never would I ask for that, Kurama. Never."

"**_So...? What do you want to do about him?_****"**

"I guess the proper answer to that would be that I would want to know the story behind that snaky face...But..." Naruto frowned angrily. "... I can't just forgive him so easily. It's because of him that Konoha has suffered so many hardships in the first place... He is the source of so much hatred, even mine..."

"**_Well, did you actually forgive Nagato when you talked to him and decided not to kill him?_**"

"No... It wasn't until later that I could forgive him. Way later. That's why this time, I'll fight Orochimaru with all I've got, and then I'll show him mercy. I'll try to know what happened to him... But first, I need to wipe that disgusting smile out of his face."

Kurama seemed to agree to the course of action, and went back to sleep on his island-like chamber. Naruto, who found himself mere feet away from Orochimaru's location, sharpened his eyes' pupils in two vertical lines. He sprinted forward, almost hearing the constant sissing and crawiling of a thousand snakes around him. The forest around him turned into another small glade, lit by moonlight. Leaves fell gracefully, dancing in the air before touching the ground or caressing Naruto's face softly. Right in front of him, with his back against a thick, strong tree log, Orochimaru struggled to stand up as he grinned coldly, tasting his bottom lip with that unnormally long tongue of his.

"The power of Kyuubi no Youko... Impressive. How amusing would it be to have it my own." He opened his mouth wider than it was possible for any other human being, and Naruto was grossed out to witness how _another_ Orochimaru made his way out of the other's mouth, imitating a snake's skin shedding process. This Orochimaru didn't have his stomach burnt by Naruto's Rasengan, and looked healthier than the other, whose body simply turned into a sort of lifeless sheet. As if Orochimaru had just taken a coat off himself. The huge snake that accompanied him crawled around the Sannin, sissing mockingly as it glared at Naruto from time to time.

"Huuuh...? What's this?" Naruto folded his arms. "Is it that you finally acknowledge my strenght, and now you want to take me instead of Sasuke? Flattering. But no thanks."

"Ah, but did I ever mention _your_ name, Naruto-kun? I believe the one whose strenght I want is the thing that lives inside that soul of yours... Without which you wouldn't have been able to survive from even those tragic Chuunin Exams, from years ago." Orochimaru chuckled, standing up slowly and testing the mobility on his fingers and neck.

"Oh, I get it. You're another one of those fools who think my only power comes from Kurama, and that _he_ is the strong one, not me. What a pity." Naruto glared at Orochimaru, yet his face showed incredible mockery. He was smirking in a way that he had only done with Sasuke, and just once, when they had battled each other... And right after he had made a similar remark.

"What is there to prove otherwise, Naruto-kun...?" Orochimaru rested his hands on his waist and looked at him in the same way he used to be looked at by his teachers back when he was twelve. Naruto snorted.

"Only a strong ninja can become a perfect Jiinchuuriki. Only a genius. It usually takes years, decades of fighting, negotiating and struggling with the Bijuu that lies inside you... For me, it took weeks. It's not my credit alone, of course... Kurama also helped me. But that's only because I was able to probe myself to him. If I hadn't, I wouldn't be able to call myself a perfect Jiinchuuriki." Naruto readied his battle stance, his Chakra cloak of light made flames began blazing harder and its light became brighter.

"People like you don't like to acknowledge people like me. Because it's hard for you to admit that someone can become every bit as much of a genius as you are, through hard work and never giving up. Those of you who have been called geniuses of your own generations hate to recognize a talent that wasn't there at first, but was born through that person's guts. Which is fine... I didn't work so hard to be recognized by the likes of you anyway. I worked hard to be acknowleged by the people whose opinions _do_ matter to me. I worked hard to protect those people. You guys can roll over and keep whining about me being a "cheater" or something for being what nobody else can: Kyuubi no Youko's Only Perfect Jiinchuuriki. I could care less about you."

Orochimaru began laughing out loud. His laughter was one that sent chills down Naruto's back, and threatened to freeze his senses completely. The snake crawling beneath him seemed just as amused as its master, it didn't seem to be affected by Orochimaru's killing intent.

"Good! Good... You have some bravery in you... How very interesting." He licked his bottom lip once more, his viper-like eyes shining in the dark. "Very well... Shall I test you? Measure that strenght which makes you be so proud of yourself and that pet you keep inside?"

"**_Naruto, switch with me for a second._**"

There was a little flash of light. Naruto's whisker-like marks became more pronunciated, his eyes momentarily red, and his voice no longer his, but Kurama's. And the fox's response to Orochimaru was a cold, intimidating laugh. Orochimaru's snake shivered with fear and hid behind him, as even the air became hot and dense as Kurama laughed mockingly.

"**_Hey there, Orochi-brat._**"

"Huh...? So you can possess the kid, now?" Orochimaru asked, his smile disappearing from his face and becoming serious.

"**_More like him and I can take turns to speak... I've seen you several times from inside here._**" Kurama both leered at him and smirked, showing Naruto's sharp fangs. "**_It can be so hilarious to see a snot-nosed brat acting like he's some sort of all mighty deity. Speaking of Ninjutsu as if it was the sole purpose of being alive and yet hiding his ass behind the corpses of other people. And you come here and say Naruto would never be anything especial without me? That's a killer. I could barely hold myself back from laughing my tails off. But you know what...? Why don't we make an experiment?_**"

"Experiment?"

"**_Yes... Now that you so kindly asked, let's see how good can Naruto wipe the floor with you without using his Jiinchuuriki powers. Wouldn't that be interesting...? That would prove that, by your standards, if you lose to Naruto using no Bijuu Chakra, that means that you're no good against that which you call fodder. How about it?_**"

"Looking forward to do so. Just be prepared for saving his life more than once, Kyuubi..." Orochimaru said, smiling with a sadistic expression on his face.

"**_Hmph..._**" Kurama snapped his fingers and let Naruto back in his body. The ethereal cloak faded away, and the light illuminating his whole body in a flaming motion finally wored out. Naruto, whose eyes were closed momentarily, began absorbing natural Chakra.

"And you think a ninja like me is going to kindly let you gather your strenght?" The Sannin dashed against Naruto, moving like a snake, and using the actual snake he had as a pet as the source for his poisonous attacks. He made to punch Naruto in his face, to make his snake bite him afterwards... But right on that moment, the blond Jiinchuuriki deflected the punch and grabbed Orochimaru's arm. The Uzumaki opened his eyes, revealing the frog-like pigmentations and the gold irises and horizontal pupils, after which he carried Orochimaru's whole body from his arm and made to throw it to the ground violently. Orochimaru's snake sissed with bloodthirst, rolling around Naruto's arm to try and bite him, though by the time it opened its mouth, Naruto had sliced its head clean with his three edged kunai. Orochimaru's contact with the ground left a relatively small circular crack on the earth. He got free from Naruto's grip and summoned hundreds of snakes from his right arm's sleeve.

Naruto cut them all with his kunai, and dashed towards the viperish Sannin. He tried punching his stomach to cut his breath, though Orochimaru grabbed his arm halfway through, after which he unleashed even more hundreds of snakes from his mouth. They all bit Naruto in all sorts of places, though his body eventually dissapeared in a poof of white smoke. Orochimaru looked around himself, looking for the blond, as the hundred snakes sissed furiously because of the disappeareance of their prey. The Sannin then looked up, and caught the sight of Naruto in mid-air, holding a spinning shuriken made of incredibly wild, condensed Chakra. There was a blueish sphere, much like a Rasengan, on its core.

"_What kind of technique is that...?_"

Naruto threw it at Orochimaru, who rapidly jumped out of harm's way, just in time for watching all of his snakes be turned into mere dust, inside a great explosion that expanded the glade at least twice its natural size. As there were but a few trees left right before the glade to hide Orochimaru's position, Naruto was able to locate him quickly as soon as he landed. He dashed towards him, and Orochimaru decided to shorten the distance by jumping towards Naruto himself.

He made to kick the Konoha Jounin on his back, though he spun right on the last moment to guard the kick with the side of his left arm, after which Naruto used a right kick to hit Orochimaru right in his face. Just like it had happened before, Sennin Naruto's brute strenght sent the enemy flying to the ground and buried him on it as if it had been a sword. Though Orochimaru's body also disappeared in white smoke as soon as that happened. Naruto landed in one tree branch, frowning at his opponent, who was several branches away from him. Orochimaru kept grinning evilly, as if the battle was teaching him something he wasn't expecting to learn.

"I see... So, you have completed your father's technique. Well, I'm not sure whether to congratulate you or laugh at him... See, how pitiful must it be to not be able to live enough to complete your own techniques? It makes you quite the failure, that your son must complete what you couldn't..."

"Heh..." Naruto folded his arms. "...You really took it personally, didn't you...? The fact that my father was chosen Hokage and you weren't. I guess you thought you were so much better than him. But you can't even defeat his son... Who is the failure here, I wonder?"

Orochimaru's expression went serious all of a sudden. And Naruto knew he had finally hit the weak spot. Orochimaru's frustration for being overlooked and left behind, surpassed by a youngster. And it suddenly hit him.

"I see..." Naruto smiled. "...So that's why you keep ranting on about me and my weakness... That's why you think making me feel humilliated is the funniest thing in the world. You see him in me. You see his face. Through humilliating me, you're doing what you couldn't do with _him_. To think you'd hold such a grudge against my Dad... But let me give you some bad news..."

He suddenly vanished. Orochimaru merely blinked once, before realizing what Naruto had just done. He had warped behind him, and now a very unnaturally big Rasengan, held by to clones of the blond Jiinchuuriki, was about to strike his stomach.

"If you lose to me, you're also losing to _him_, yet again!"

His spherical technique hit the bullseye, and sent Orochimaru against the ground again, spinning like a fan. His clone vanished into white smoke, and the original Naruto landed beside the Sannin, seeing him trying to get up but failing.

"Hiraishin no Jutsu, huh?" Orochimaru said, smirking still, though blood was being spilled from his mouth, and his stomach had been burnt with the furious spinnin Chakra.

"What's wrong with you, you're not even using half of your strenght. Is it that you still think I'm weak?" Naruto glared at him, then closed his eyes for a moment to use his sensing skills, and glared again. "I get it. Edo Tensei takes a good bite of Chakra off you. And then the Skin shedding to cure from my other Rasengan..."

"Someone has done his homework..."

"Merely talked to Sasuke about it, you know, since he's my friend and all. See, _that_ was your mistake. Thinking that Sasuke would never come back. Believing he was going to be some sort of puppet of yours. Well... Too bad." Naruto turned his back on the Sannin, and prepared to warp away. "I'm gonna let you live for now... And let Sasuke be the one who finishes you up."

"Getting scared of me, now?"

"Scared? Nah... More like grossed out. If I have to see you pulling things out of your mouth another time, I'll have to pause the fight to throw up. You're disgusting. Sasuke is more able to handle that... Sick nature of yours. Besides, the way you are now... I'm really not interested in you. If I want a fun battle, I might as well just ask Sasuke."

He looked back to Orochimaru, glaring with his golden, Sennin eyes, and smirked mockingly. He made a farewell sign with his left hand and let out a tiny chuckle.

"See ya, Hebi-chan..."

With that being said, the blond jiinchuuriki vanished into thin air.

[...]

The exact moment when Hinata felt the air around her get uneasy, she caught the sight of Naruto landing beside her, appearing litteraly out of nowhere. She muffed a scream as she could, though her ninja reflexes made her hold her ground and prepare to battle. The blond chuckled a bit once he saw her in that position.

"Don't kill me. I'm an ally."

"Jeez... I'm sorry." Hinata went back to normal, and ran to hug Naruto around his neck. The snow had stopped a long time before he had shown up, and so had her tears. But her worrying about the one person in the world she loved more than anything else couldn't just disappear that easily, unless she reunited with him. Naruto hugged her back, and kissed her cheek.

"C'mon, let's take this chance. I just said some really bad stuff to Orochimaru after paralyzing him for a bit... If we linger here, he's surely gonna come and kill us, the sick bastard."

"O-okay...!" She took his hand, and both of them warped away together, causing a tiny gale of spinning wind behind them.

[...]

Okay, I hoped you guys liked reading this chapter. Please do review the story, it helps more than you can imagine.


	7. That Clan of His

Hello everybody. I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. Work, work and more work has gotten in my way, and I gotta admit there was a little bit of a writer's block issue trying to hold me back. I spent a lot of time reading certain type of Mangas, and I slacked off from this story in order to have more, more, and more ideas.

A guy like me enjoys reading stories that are perfectly balanced between love, drama and action. But it's quite difficult to get the right percentage of each. Especially when you need to watch the way you write, as my mother tongue isn't English. But rest assured, I will do my best to bring a perfect closure to this story... Not too soon, though! I'm expecting this to be long.

As an "I'm sorry for being late" gift, please take this little spoiler: certain new Red Haired character is **me**. And for those who would like to know more about me, be very observant with this character's story and development. I'll try to write as much about him as possible without taking Naruto's protagonism away... After all, he is who he is.

Thank you guys for adding this story to your favorites, for following it, and for reviewing it. It makes my day to get an email notification and see people interested in "Peace". I love you guys.

P.S: I've been receiving certain ideas for pairings and what not. I appreciate those ideas, and do not worry, some of them are not too far from what I plan to do with the story myself... But try to focus on what's going on in each chapter. I'm sure that if you follow the little details, you'll get your answers. That's for plot ideas, anyways. For pairings, it all comes down to which pairings are your favorites... I myself have some, and I plan to add them in due time. Please look forward to read about them.

Another P.S (Lol): For those of you who may disagree with my version of Hinata (and perhaps Naruto), please do take into account that these characters are currently 16 years old and have gone through war. Changes are bound to happen in one's personality. It's not too weird for Naruto to be a bit more straightforward with his thoughts (like his argument with Sakura in chapter 5), or for Hinata to be a bit more confident and bold (like how she was during her mother's funeral while talking to Neji).

Okay! No more boring author notes! Please go ahead and read!

[...]

VII. That Clan of His...

[...]

A new day was born. Sunlight shone through countless windows, rushing countless people to open their eyes and get ready for what awaited them during the rest of that same day. In a particular village, which was hidden in the green leaves of almost infinite forests, the usual morning noises of businesses getting opened, dogs wanting to go out for a walk and barking that wish out loud to their masters, kids dying to go to the Ninja Academy or to tag along with their parents, who were headed to work, and most especially, the sounds of many, many ninja training their bodies and minds before going out to their missions, or simply for the sake of it, were easily heard by a particular blond Jounin who was trying to get yet another five minutes of sleep. It was too late, though. Once your eyes receive that one little glare from sunlight, keeping them closed is utterly impossible. Especially because that little glare goes all the way to one's consciousness, and holds one's desire to get back to sleep tight. All that is left is the usual sensation of drowziness, diziness and even a slight trace of stupidity.

Naruto rose his head a bit, trying to remember where he even was. Home. Good. He dropped his head back onto his pillow, only to discover for the second time on those five minutes that even if he closed his eyes, sleep was gone. For good. Or at least, for another long day's time. He gave his nightable's clock a very disdainful look, as if it was the clock's fault that he had to wake up and stay alive through that morning. It was eight thirty. Good grief. How did people even manage to wake up any earlier than that, was beyond him and his understanding. Though it was already known that his understanding wasn't so much of a great thing to begin with. He rose from his bed after seven or so minutes of whining inwardly, and half walked, half wobbled his way towards the bathroom. He took another disdainful look at the mirror, where his reflection returned the same expression, showing him a couple hair bangs long enough to reach his chin. He was also a bit taller, and his eyes a bit thinner, and also a bit more spread, as if trying to accentuate his fox features further if that was even possible.

Following the next twenty minutes, Naruto brushed his teeth, splashed some water on his face, wore some comfortable black pants and shirt with a red Uzumaki symbol stamped in its back, decided to stay barefoot and to have some fruits and some orange juice for breakfast, which was not like him at all, but he had agreed to do so with Hinata, who was now apparently taking Naruto's health in all aspects very personally. While giving his apple a small bite and chewing it silently, Naruto had a small flash of Hinata's face on his mind, after which he smiled. Today was the day. He needed to tell her, he needed to say what he should have said the day before, perhaps moments before the mission, or moments after it. He couldn't lie to himself, a battle with Orochimaru was something that _also_ scared the hell out of his soul, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel like he had an enormous responsibility to handle him personally. After all, it was Orochimaru the one person to whom Sasuke was lost first. And the fact that Naruto had not been able to recover Sasuke from Orochimaru in the first moment they all saw each other after three years, was something that had deeply scarred him in his heart... Losing to Sasuke, Kabuto and Orochimaru that day was something that made him feel like his three years worth training had been for naught. And though he overcame that nasty sensation thanks to his friends, he swore himself not to go through that again... To be stronger than the circumstances, so whenever something happens, at least he is strong enough to protect what's the most important.

And right now, when Sasuke was with him, Sakura and Kakashi, Naruto's number one priority had suddenly acquaired blueish, dark hair, slender, feminine figure and a set of silvery, sharp eyes. He didn't know what Orochimaru was after, but at the end of the day, he was Konoha's enemy... And represented a danger to both the village, and Hinata. He just felt like he needed to overcome him, even if he was a Sannin, even if he was regarded as a genius of his generation... Naruto felt like he owed himself a victory over him. And not only to himself, but also to a certain perverted hermit, who was without doubt wacthing his every move from somewhere beyond that world.

Lost in his own thoughts about the matter, Naruto was greatly startled once he heard the door knocking, and a familiar voice calling his name.

"Oi, Dobe... You awake? Or are you still dreaming of a world in which you're stronger than me?"

Naruto smiled lowly and opened the door for his best friend. Sasuke, who was also smiling, and wearing clothes as comfortable-looking as Naruto's, walked inside the blond's flat and took a seat in his bed. Konoha's Jiinchuuriki laid his back against the wall and carried on, chewing his apple. He shrugged a bit in front of Sasuke, somehow asking what was the matter.

"Nah, nothing. Just figured I should come pay you a visit, since Sakura is off visiting her parents... Anything new from the redhead guy?"

Naruto shrugged again while chewing, closing his eyes for a bit, which Sasuke correctly took as a "no".

"I thought as much. What about that Akatsuki woman, what was her name again...?"

"...Konan?" Naruto asked, after swallowing the apple bite he had taken. "What about her?"

"Didn't you hear? She was off to Jigoku yesterday, with some ANBU escorts. She was visiting Obito."

"She did _what_?!" Naruto's eyes widened, while Sasuke's merely closed while he shrugged. "Shit, don't tell me she's dead..."

"Of course she's not dead, baka. I'm surprised Obito is even alive, since that thing they call prison is actually like a living, chakra-sucking monster. Unless you have an especific seal to protect yourself, all your chakra is sucked dry, and you know what happens when your chakra pool hits zero. But guests and guards get that seal for free, so not only do they not suffer from that place's technique, but also they can't be attacked by the prisioner. You do even one little attempt of a technique and you're dead. "

"Tch... That woman... She's so reckless... What would she do that for?"

"If I was her, and you were calling me "reckless", I'd definitely say: _I don't want to hear that from __**you**_." Sasuke said, rising one of his eyebrows and folding his arms, while completely ignoring his blond friend's annoyed leer. "Anyway, you know what she said yesterday... She wants to make sure the other Rinnegan is safe, and not in the hands of another psycopath..."

"You know, if I was Obito and you were calling me a psycopath..."

"I don't want to hear it."

Naruto bursted in laughter, almost dropping his glass of orange juice on the floor, while Sasuke's danger vein itched right in the middle of his forehead. Naruto threw a fruit to his friend, sharing his breakfast, and pointed at the orange juice box and the glasses, successfully telling Sasuke to help himself to some of it without actually opening his mouth. Sasuke did as offered, and non-verbally asked Naruto to join him and go to the building's rooftop. Sasuke also left his shoes at Naruto's flat. Naruto nodded at his friend's proposal. Both of them finished their first glass of juice, Sasuke grabbed the juice box and the glasses, while Naruto took the small bag of different fruits with him before the two of them jumped to the rooftop effortlessly. There were hardly any clouds that morning. Both Shinobi laid their arms in the rooftop's fence, glancing at what could be seen of the village from there, and silently chewing their fruits.

"So..." Sasuke said between chewing and sipping. "...You and Hinata?"

"Well... I'm gonna ask her today. Depending on what she says, that might be a "yes" or a "no". Let's hope for the best."

"Pffffft... Come on. It's so obvious. She'll say "yes" before you even get to finish speaking."

"You think?"

"Of course!"

Naruto looked at him, smirking as if Sasuke was his little, ignorant brother. Sasuke got the feeling right away, and frowned upon Naruto's expression the moment he did.

"What?"

"Never take a woman's heart for granted so easily. Ero-sennin used to say that, though I never listened to him. Now I understand what he said..." He took a sip from his glass again, and gazed at the village nostalgically. Sasuke looked at him silently, and then at the village as well.

"Hey..." Sasuke said, finishing his fruit.

"What?"

"Wanna give it a go at Taijutsu?"

"He~eh. That's kind of nostalgic. Wanna get your ass kicked so early in the morning?" Naruto said, smirking like a bratty fox. Sasuke snorted loudly.

"Get over yourself. Don't speak about kicking my ass if you can't even touch my forehead."

"Okay, then! I'm game!"

[...]

"_Quick! You need to leave now... You need to go!"_

"_What? What do you mean I need to leave? Wait...! What is it?!_"

"_There is no time to explain, just follow what I say and don't talk back, got it?!_"

"_Wait... Dad! This is not... Dad...? DAD!_"

...And then he woke up. Well, it was to be expected. One thing he sure hated about nightmares like that, is that they always ended abruptly, right when the most valuable piece of information, when the most important thing hidden beneath the dreamer's brain is about to be reproduced, remembered, and in a way, _experienced._ For a second time.

But it had been like that for the past month. He remembered his family. He remembered his father. He remembered everything about himself, except his name, the reason he was running away, and the reason he somehow knew that the very family and the very father he had just remembered, were no longer reachable in this world.

Frustrated by not knowing the most important things, or perhaps the things he needed to know the most, he finally gave his current situation a disdainful look. Actually, that look was firstly given to the clock alarm, which was one of the reasons he woke up so violently, the other one being of course, that his brain acted like an annoying fiction writer, who loved to leave cliffhangers here and there and enjoyed his readers' frustration with not knowing the crucial facts, by constantly erasing all the need for sleep and rest that was originally in his body. His temper getting worse by the second, he sat up on his bed, and massaged his left shoulder while mentally asking himself what in the world would a clock with an alarm be doing in a Hospital Room...

..."_Wait, what?_"

He looked around again. No, not only that, just the fact that he was _looking_ was enough for him to realize that what his mind was just saying was perfectly right. Which is why he reduntantly said it out loud, to state the astonishment in which he was.

"I. Am. In. _Deep_. Shit."

What was that place? Besides a Hospital, of course? What was he doing there, no, _why_ was he in a hospital room, waking up so matter-of-factly, as if he was already accustomed to that place? Was it a small village? No, small villages don't have such things. Maybe a small house with an occasional doctor working there out of his own generosity, but certainly not a huge building with lots of rooms and even more lots of comfy beds like the one he was sitting in.

"_Okay... Calm down... First things first._" He thought. "_I can see without the touch of cloth in my lids, and without the color black bothering me. In other words... I __**can**__ see. This is unacceptable._" He looked around his bed. It was a not so small, but not so big room. White walls, only his bed, placed all the way to the corner that was next to the window pane. One wardrobe, a night table beside him, and a comfortable looking seat, most likely for visitors. His clothes (black shirt, pants, sandal-looking boots and black robe with a hood) were not only folded carefully and placed on the seat, but also perfectly clean. The thing that was replacing them on his body was quite the opposite sort of clothing. White, cotton shirt and what appeared and felt to be pajamas pants. Also white.

But still, no signs of his black cloth, the one usually covering his green, sparkling eyes. Eyes that right now, were hollow. Shrouded in darkness. Feelings of not being alive at all. But especially, fear... And confusion.

"_Well, if it's not here then..._" He took his shirt off harshly, and with an irritated expression on his face, ripped it apart. The sound of the fabric being torn somehow helped him stay cool. Irritated, confused and scared, but at least, with his head on the right place. Perhaps he did need a fight in which he was able to go all out and take each of those negative feelings out... Make a person feel those same things through blood and physical pain. But right then and there, he only had that cotton shirt. Perhaps that was the reason behind his enthusiasm while tearing it apart?

He somehow improvised a stripe of white cloth, quite similar to the black one he was wearing before. With unnecessary strenght, he tied it around his head, right in front of his eyes, and his feelings of desperation and fear where somewhat aliviated. At least one of his deepest fears was dealt with from the beginning. As soon as he felt the darkness wrap around his sight, he focused his inner energy, his remaining senses, and his chakra to use the entire environment as a living picture, which was the way he could actually "see".

He then resolved to rise from his bed and grab his clothes, but as soon as he stood up, his feet failed him pathetically and he was forced to sit back on the bed.

"_What the hell...?_"

"You trying to go somewhere, kid...?" A male voice said beside him. It was as familiar as it was irritating in a frustrating way. Though for some reason, he could not remember where he had heard it until his improvised sense of sight caught the glimpse of a scare-crow looking man with silvery, messy hair and a lone black eye watching him with a rather neutral expression. His face, or at least a great percentage of it was covered by the black cloth from his Ninja uniform.

"Yo..." He said as a greeting phrase of his, while rising his right hand in a palm.

"You..." The young man said with a voice that depicted his will to prepare for war. As soon as he let that little word go out, though, a violently compressed flashback came to his mind. It was the worst thing that could ever happen to him, especially after a nightmare like the one he had just waken up from. Four hooded individuals pursuing him everywhere he went. Innocent people getting killed. Towns bursting into flames. Running. Running. Running. Stopping on a particular night.. _Last night_... To recover his strength. And then a fight between those hooded people... And a group from Konoha. A group the man he was "looking" at right then was in.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi. You remember me from last night, don't you?" He said, finally sitting on the visitor's seat instead of on the window pane, and taking a small book out of his pocket.

"What are you doing here...? No, where am I?"

"I know you have lots of questions. But so do we. Tell you what. I tell you what you want to know, and you tell _me_ what I want to know. Deal?"

"By _we_, are you talking about... _Who, _again?"

"Nah-uh. Wait. The first question wasn't that one. You were asking where you were, and what was I doing here, right?"

The young man "glared" through his white cloth, and clenched his fists, piercing the sheets' cloth with his nails. "_Koitsu... When did he get in? Without me sensing him, that is. Well, I guess it gets hard to have the same sharpness on my senses if I get such a long rest. It'll take a while before I can go back to sense the slightest movements. I'm guessing we're at Konohagakure, then... Tch..." _He snapped his tongue, angrily. "..._To think that of all places, I'd end up caught in __**this**__ village. This guy's pretty good, coming here before anybody else... He probably knew I'd try to get out as soon as I woke up. And that means... He's ready to fight me, if that means that I won't get away... Hatake Kakashi, huh? Not a guy I could outsmart, or beat. He's got me... For now._"

"Fine. Let's do it your way." He said calmly, yet hotly. Kakashi, whose incredibly irritating stare was calm, and resembled the way an adult looked at a child when said child had some dirty secrets.

"Fantastic. So, to answer your questions... Even though you probably have already answered them by yourself... Yes, you are at our village. Konohagakure. As for what are you doing here, well, you might remember my team's especific mission was to find you and take you here. If you didn't get as much from our actions and discussions yesterday night, then you probably can figure it out by reading your current situation."

"Great." He answered coldly. "What is _your_ question?"

"Who are you?"

"I have no idea."

"Is that so? Well, I can't say I wasn't prepared to receive as much from you... We've heard about you not "remembering" anything. So? Is that really how it is? You have no idea who you are?"

"I only have knowledge about my family. My father. The world I live in. I know my fighting style, I know how I learned to fight, and I know about the Five Hidden Villages. What I don't know is my name, or my family's name. Or my Dad's. And I don't know why am I being hunted by that sick bastard..." He clenched his fists harder. "...I just know I exist. And... That somehow... My Dad and my family do _not_."

Silence. The young man glared again, not being able to understand what was lying behind Hatake Kakashi's neutral expression.

"I'm more frustrated than you are... These are things I also want to know. But it's not up to me, allright? Deal with it."

"You're mistaken." Kakashi answered, closing his eye calmly.

"How so?"

"Why should I be frustrated?"

He gazed away, his read, long hair falling all over his shoulders and forehead. He was already expecting such behaviour from Konoha's shinobi.

"I know. It's not like you people actually care about people like me... All that matters is your village's safety, and that the greedy, fat bags of hot air you have for customers pay you accordingly. I don't even know why you and your team were sent to take me..."

"Actually..." Kakashi replied interrupting him. "...It's kind of curious. If people didn't realy care, they wouldn't see through your physical comfort, and they would also not bother to clean your clothes, get them warm and fold them nicely. In fact, you wouldn't even wake up on such a good bed. If _these_ people didn't care, you'd be dead."

"Nice one. But it's written all overy your face, how you are one of those who actually despise me the most."

"I don't despise, like or care about you. Because I can't. I know nothing about you..." Kakashi opened his little book and gave it a lazy glance, while the redhead's expression became calmer and his clenched fists let go of the sheets. "... Of course, the air can be a bit tense around you and your situation, because of the fact that people were killed either by you or your pursuers. That much we can't tell for sure, unless we are provided with information. Right now, all I know is your existance holds some secrets that are of huge importance to what is happening right now with the Shinobi System."

"What are you talking about...? Why would I be so important to anybody...?"

"Just think about it. That Orochimaru wants you so badly that he's willing to _go out personally_ and look for you, knowing that he might be killed or arrested by someone like us... Or that he sends his most powerful hench men to do the job, even if it means taking days to do it... It can only mean you possess something very important. Very dangerous. Whether or not you know about this "something" is irrelevant... "

"So what...? He wants to use me as one of his sick experiments, dissect me or cut me in little pieces? Tell me something I don't know myself. It's clear enough from the way he looked at me when we met." He laid his back against the wall behind the bed, letting his arm rest on his left knee. The fear of that first meeting with Orochimaru sent a chill down his spine.

"Whatever he might like to do with your body once he's done, is something only he knows. But right now, the important thing is to know _what _would he be done with... If he had you. What is it he gains from you. What is it he wants so badly."

"And is that what concerns the entire Shinobi World so much? The likes of a sick bastard like him?"

"As it so happens, that sick bastard is the only known leader and head of Otogakure. A place swarming with people who are as vicious and sick as he is. Only they might be slightly weaker... Only slightly. An entire army of Cursed Seal Users. Some of them can't even control it, and are oftenly going berserk. Killing and torturing left, right and centre. They're the huge obstacle that's preventing us Hidden Villages from carrying on with our plans of peace. You saw plenty of them, didn't you...? While you were running away..."

He frowned at the mental picture of those four who were after him.

"...Yeah. Those guys." Kakashi sighed. "...So, now you see. You're of absolute importance to Orochimaru... For some reason. But luckily, and thanks to a certain reckless idiot from my team, we managed to get our hands on you first... But before we even know what is Orochimaru after concerning you, we need to know about you. If by any chance you were to be involved in his plans..."

Kakashi looked at him for a moment. There was true determination in his lone eye, and his voice had gradually gotten serious.

"...There is no reason why I wouldn't have permission to kill you right now."

[...]

"Hinata-sama? Is it right for me to interrupt?" A male voice came from behind the door to Hinata's room. Her black hair danced gracefully as she turned on her feet and looked at the door. Until then, she was putting her clothes on, ready to go to a certain someone's house. Simple, yet girly clothes that weren't too revealing, and at the same time didn't hide much from her. Jeans and a white hoddie with short sleeves, with of course, her custom sandals.

"Um, yes, come in."

One of her relatives from the Branch House opened the door to her room and bowed to her in an expression with which she had already grown accustomed to since she was little. The reason she didn't ask for him not to bow, as she did with all of them, was that even if she had a fight with them over the matter, they would simply never let it go. She bowed in return and sat on her bed.

"What is it?"

"There is someone here who wishes to speak to you. I believe her name is Haruno Sakura-san."

"_What?" _Hinata scowled in such a way only she could notice. "_What would she want to talk about with me, now of all times?"_

"Let her in, please." Hinata said finally.

[...]

"_Where... Am I...?_"

Darkness. Water. Bubbles. Pressure. Fear. Confusion. Nothing showed up in front of his eyes, which kept worrying him every second that came next. He only felt the cold touch of water, enveloping him in a chilly embrace... He was totally submerged, perhaps it was a pool, perhaps an ocean, perhaps both. Even if he physically tried to open his eyes, all he got as response was darkness. There was nothing more. He could oftenly hear the sound of bubbles ascending beside him, like jellyfish.

"_Okay... He's finally about to access the sealed zone in his brain. Yamanaka-san, please keep your focus or we'll lose him..."_

"_Got it_."

Those voices... So familiar. Where were they coming from? They seemed to be inside his mind, but that was imposible... How could any voice besides his exist inside his mind?

...But that seemed like the least important matter. More than being confused about voices and his own mind, the fear of being trapped on a watery grave was getting the better of him. He didn't notice until then that he was actually able to breathe, despite being submerged. It was also as soon as he noticed his ability to breathe that he felt like his body was not sinking deeper into the abyss, but rather ascending with the bubbles and escaping the pitch black environment second by second.

His body was also wearing darkness as clothes. Black robes of soft silk. His hair acted like the hands of a gentle godess, caressing his forehead and his cheeks every now and then, until he caught the glimpse of light. Up above. Warm. Bright. White.

Dazzled by the sight of such light, he tried to feel like he could reach it by stretching his hand. For a second he felt like he could catch it. Play around with it using his fingers. And when he was about to realize that the light was unreachable, the unkown force making him ascend pulled him more strongly, and he finally felt like life was knocked back inside him. The light was getting closer... And closer...

_"He's got it! Okay everyone, don't slack off! Every single bit of information you can get, make sure you memorize it!"_

"_Hai!_"

Those voices again. There were several of them. But he wasn't interested, he was trying to know what was beyond that light... Even though he could still breathe underwater, his natural reflexes made him wish to reach the surface and inhale actual air like never before.

...And he finally did. But once his bearings got considerably better, and once his sight got accustomed to the light around him, he realized, he was never underwater to begin with. A small glance around him proved it. If anythin, it looked like he had just landed, rather than _re-surfaced_. He was in what appeared to be the outskirts of a village. A small one, since it could be entirely seen from where he was... Three or four hundred houses and buildings to the most. It felt like noon. Sunlight was harsh. Possibly middle of the summer. The grass looked soft and greener than normal. Only a small breeze could calm him down, and aliviate the sudden storm of questions brewing inside his mind.

He tucked his hair behind his ear, and decided to walk towards that village, right when it happend. Just as he tried to take the first step onwards, his body levitated only a few feet from the ground, making him feel like a human ghost. Immediatly afterwards, the continuous gasping and panting from someone else reached his ears. He looked to his left, and he saw a little boy, about seven or eight years old, running desperately. He was headed towards the village, apparently.

"Quick! He's getting away!"

He tried to look behind himself, to see who was pursuing him, but he found his own body following the little kid like an invisible spirit. Judging by the fact that his presence besides the kid was pretty obvious, and yet he couldn't see the young red haired man, he concluded that he wasn't dreaming. He wasn't awake either..The fact that even though invisible, he was stuck with that kid's fate, meant that he was looking at _memories._

Another look at the boy was enough for him to realize the reason why he was stuck with him. That boy, wearing messy ninja outfit, with chubby complexion, also had red hair. And his eyes were green and bright as lightning. It was short hair, but that didn't kept the older version of himself from recognizing the familiar face features and the panting voice.

"_It __**is**__ me. But... How is this possible? I don't remember anything like this..."_

The younger version's pursuers finally showed up, several feet away from him. He looked at them from over his shoulder, an expression of rage and hatred glowing like daggers from his eyes. He was finally reaching the village, running downhill, and agilly stopping himself from tripping and falling over, by jumping and almost hovering between the nearby trees' branches. The older version, still following his younger self like a shadow, smiled faintly at the sight of his own agility, despite being young.

"_So , at that time... I was already receiving training."_

The little _him_ ran over the village's rooftops, his pursuers (who looked like anything _but_ villagers) kept cursing him and insulting him, drawing shabby swords and rusty maces to intimidate him. But he merely snorted and got away by landing in a particularly empty alley. His pursuers, confused by the sudden disappeareance, agreed to scout the whole area until he was found. But the older _him_ already knew that day had already been called off. It was the kid's win.

Walking through the alley and reaching one of the main streets of that small village (which by the way, was incredibly crowded and full of shops, restaurants and what not), the young _him_ went to the luxurious mansion at the end of the street. Mixing with the crowd and making sure he wasn't seen by anybody, the young _him_ looked like a child who understood many more things than most adults. His serious demeanor, his quiet nature and above all, his prudence when acting and walking. Somehow, the older version felt a bit disappointed of not remembering being like that... He thought he had been a total goof off at such time.

But those questions would have had to wait. Because something much more important that he had not been able to recall was right in front of him, the moment that kid got in front of the mansion's main door, and crossed it. In the courtyard, which leaded towards the living room, there were several white flags with a symbol that he, the ghostly version that floated around the kid knew very well.

It was a spiral. A red spiral.

He was a member of the Uzumaki Clan.

[...]

I was trying to leave a cliffhanger. I don't know if I did it right, lol! that was my first try. Not like I was really into it, belive me, I have a very nasty plot in process of development. You guys are going to hate me for that... But I think I will be able to take it, lol.

Also, I've been DYING to write a School Life Love story. With a dose of fighting and action, of course. Please do tell me what do you think about this kind of stories. I like to see what people think.

See you in next chapter!


	8. Red With A Dose Of Black

VIII. Red With A Dose Of Black.

* * *

"_This... This is absolutely different from what I remember..."_ He kept thinking nervously, while seeing his younger version walking so confidently inside the mansion's courtyard. Naturally, he - the older version- followed behind, levitating as the spirit of a relative who watched over the little kid.

The mansion was empty, or at least that was as far as the entrance and the courtyard were concerned. No one came out from the living room to greet the child, and similarly, no one came out to stop him from going any further... Which made it seem like he was neither important nor dangerous for the household. The closer he got to the living room's sliding door, the more his older self felt like even though those memories he was watching were foreign, they _did_ belong to him. Deep inside his heart, somewhere far away from what his brain dared to consider reality, he was afraid of the fact that, memories from his past were always blurry. Faint. Incomplete. There was always something missing. And whenever his mind came to find that something close, he either woke up from the dream (or the nightmare), or simply was forced to give himself up to ignorance.

However... That mansion... That village... The expression set on his child self's face, the way he was clearly hurt... It was neither familiar, nor new to him, the older self. His mind said it was something that belonged to another person. But his heart and his body felt familiar. Too familiar.

"..._But why? Why am I seeing this now, and why not before?"_

From the other side of the door, a blurry, shadowy silhouette that resembled the slender figure of a woman, rose up gracefully from the floor and opened the door aggressively. And something happened that made both the kid and the teenager to feel a incredible burst of hatred inside their hearts. The set of green eyes that each of them had began literally sparkling and leering with such incredible rage that the older version of him thought for a second that he had lost himself to killer instincts.

"Ah... So, you're back, Kamui."

Those words came from the source of little Kamui and old Kamui's feelings. The woman who had just opened the door, who also appeared to be the head of that house (and probably the Clan), had one of the most despicable looks on her face. Her hair was brownish red, her eyes black, and her skin was incredibly white.

Older Kamui didn't realize that he had just unlocked one of many memories that were sealed on the deepest side of his mind. Just by looking at her. Just by remembering her name. And just by remembering what kind of relationship she had with him. She was Tachibana Satsuki. And she was his mother. But that title could only be given to her in a biological sense. There was no way for neither little Kamui nor old Kamui to even begin to think of her as a mother.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you by not falling into your trap and dying." Little Kamui said, his green eyes furiously fixed upon Satsuki, who wore a beautiful kimono and acted as innocent and graceful as those women who tried hard to resemble the mythical Yamato Nadeshico. The greatest example of an ideal woman. However, _that_ woman in front of both Kamui's couldn't be further away from that ideal.

"My, my... You say it as though I had planned for you to have any hardships on your mission... But I am your mother. Why would I even think of that?" She replied with a smug voice, smirking like a particularly amused snake once she noticed little Kamui's bruises and minor injuries. It wasn't until then that older Kamui noticed them as well. His younger self was bleeding from his left arm and from his right cheek. But he didn't seem too interested on that. Rather, he merely walked inside the living room (which was as luxurious as any living room on a mansion can get), and headed towards his room.

"Did you manage to get what I asked you for?"

"I wouldn't have been chased after so badly if I hadn't." Kamui looked for something on his pocket, and draw a small scroll from it. He showed it to Satsuki, who nodded mockingly, and then threw it at her. She caught it on mid air, and glared at Kamui afterwards.

"Who do you think you're dealing with? Not only am I your mother but also the Head of this-..."

"_Don't get ahead of yourself, old hag!_" Little Kamui replied, loudly. He glared back at her, even harder. "I don't remember my father handing the Uzumaki Clan's leadership over to the likes of you. Go ahead, enjoy yourself while being the only "master of this house" for the time being. I'll just wait patiently in my room until my father comes back, and _then_ we'll see who am I dealing with. You piece of shit of a mother."

There was a long, incredibly tense silence between them both. Some of the house servants had run to the living room, fearing trouble. Satsuki had firstly trembled in anger, feeling offended by Kamui's statements. But once she noticed the presence of maids and butlers, she took a small breath and smirked in the same mocking way.

"You're right Kamui. I _am_ going to enjoy being the master of this house for now. But I won't do it by myself... I enjoy sharing with my family, you see. Here. Let's make some more memories togethere, shall we?" Satsuki made half a seal with her right hand, and all of a sudden, little Kamui fell to the floor, shivering. There were black, kanji-like marks all over his body, like living tattoos.

"_A restraint seal against her own son... As expected of good ol' sadist Satsuki"._ Older Kamui thought bitterly, while his younger self began panting and feeling dizzy. Satsuki commanded her butlers to take him into arms, and then made them follow her to another room. The expression shining on her face displayed more danger than having supper with vipers. Little Kamui, helplessly trying to move and failing, knew that the memories they were going to make, were something he would wish to forget for the rest of his life.

* * *

Even though there were no tears, older Kamui didn't miss the fact that his younger version was craving in the inside for letting them out. Hours had passed since Kamui's mother had "made memories" with him... And she made sure they were remembered all right. Older Kamui couldn't help but feel like bursting in rage. Even the fact that he was finally able to remember his old room, and his old house was not enough for him to lose sight of the terrible outcome younger Kamui's defiant words had brought him.

The kid was laying face-down on his bed. The clothes he used for his torso were gone, and instead he had been forced to wear the nastiest, most terrible looking scars, bruises and slashes that anybody would bear to see in a little kid. Blood was still coming out from those injuries. But little Kamui wasn't moving. He merely trembled. Whether it was due to pain, sadness, anger... Older Kamui knew (and remembered) that not even he himself could tell.

"_Yeah... Now I remember...During this time... Dad was gone. Even though he and mom had divorced each other when I was four, because of the fact that Dad __**was**__ a representative of a Clan that was not supposed to exist, he had to travel a lot... Making strong connections... Trying to find the remaining Uzumaki Members alive... Trying to bring the Clan together in secret, protect it and re-build it. But many people didn't want to go back to a Clan... For them, belonging to a Clan meant belonging to the Shinobi System, and that also meant risking one's life. Many people had grown used to peaceful lives..."_

Older Kamui, who had stopped levitating since a couple hours ago, took a sit on the floor and gazed at his child version silently, feeling the hidden memories come back from wherever they were. His eyes threatened to go wet as his heart clenched and remembered the pain of what he had gone through during that childhood.

"_But why? Why am I remembering this now? Why couldn't I see this before...? Why had my name have to be reminded by such a disgusting person as __**that**__ woman?"_

Kamui. If what he could remember now was true, that name had been proposed by his father when he was born. For many people, Kamui meant holy. Sacred. Divine. Godly. But for his father, it had another meaning. Right then, his words and his voice could still be heard as clearly as in the day when those words were first spoken...

"_**Kamui**__ is a name given to those who have the will and the strength to either follow and protect God... Or to defy Him and defeat Him."_

"But Dad... How in the world could I even defeat something I don't even believe in?"

At that moment, he had simply chuckled and patted Kamui's head gently.

"_Let's put it this way... Perhaps since the moment you decided not to believe in God, you also defied and defeated Him. So perhaps, as __**Kamui**__, you have already chosen your path... Even if you don't really understand what that means. Don't worry. You will. In due time." _

Right then, sitting beside the memory of himself, in a room made of what seemed to be a powerful jutsu to unseal one's secrets from within one's mind, Kamui wished he could understand what his father had meant with that. In a way, his father was just as annoying as his nightmares. Always leaving the most important bit of information out. Deliberately. And Kamui had always tried to insist, to force that information out from him. But in the end, he was still a child... And by the time he thought he had enough wisdom to ask his father once more, he was gone. One of his missions. And Kamui's mother had come to their house, out of the blue, claiming to have been asked by his father to take care of their only child.

But that was a horrible mistake. The result of trusting his ex-wife, and the one person who, granted, was supposed to love and care for Kamui more than anybody else... Was a seven-year old kid completely covered in painful, bloody bruises, dealing with his mother's dangerous requests... Requests that were merely an excuse for her to send her son out there and risk his life unnecessarily, so he could just simply die. Apparently her idea was to gain Kamui's father's favor... Pity... Perhaps she wanted to be able to live as a noble, through making Kamui her golden sacrifice. And she was such a good actress. Her looks and her well trained relationship skills had won the hearts of many of the house's maids and servants. Only a few seemed to remain loyal to Kamui and his father, and they had to quit the job as a result. Satsuki never hesitated when it came to kill and remove what she deemed as an obstacle.

Older Kamui could feel it again. The same suffering that was suffocating his kid self's soul. The same question. _When is my father going to come back...?_.

Just as that question sent hurricanes of despair to both Kamui's, the door to the younger one's room suddenly opened with haste. Little Kamui didn't react, or show any signs of noticing the arrival of someone else to his room. But older Kamui did the noticing for him. Standing in the threshold, with a look that put many emotions into one sole message, was a tall man about thirty years old, with crimson red hair that was incredibly curly (just like Kamui's), and a set of black eyes that were currently showing horror. Putting older Kamui and him beside each other, one would easily think that they are both the same person in different periods of time (just like little Kamui and older Kamui were)... But it was his eyes the thing that gave that man away as a different person.

"Kamui...?" The man said with low, weak voice. At that moment, older Kamui had noticed how he had apparently just returned from his journey. He remembered clearly that he was nothing but a ghost of the future, spying on his past life's experiences to remember what he couldn't remember before, but that didn't keep him from feeling glad to see that man's face again... After all that he had been through. Little Kamui also recognized the man's voice and tried to stand up, but the man quickly sat beside him on his bed.

"Don't move. Easy. Let me take care of this..." He sent another horrified look towards little Kamui's back and the wounds on it. He grit his teeth in frustration.

"D-Dad...? W-when did you...?"

"Don't talk. Just lay down and stay quiet... Only tell me who did this to you."

"You mean you still don't get it...?" Little Kamui replied, clenching his fists around his pillow, his face completely hidden. "...It's what happens to those who remain loyal to you."

"Be clear about it. Tell me _who_."

Kamui rose his head a little bit, so his green eyes could meet his father's. Black and green clashed in an emotional, heated minute. Older Kamui smirked in the midst of his own held tears. Their father seemed to understand, as he let out a sigh full of pain and frustration, yet with a dose of resignation.

"I know, I know. You _did_ tell me she was completely out of it... But whatever the case, I never would have dreamed that she would do this... Kamui... I'm sorry. Although I know saying "sorry" is not going to make you feel better so easily."

The man made some incredibly fast seals, and hovered his hand above his little kid's back. Said back seemed to move by itself, as if it felt something cold getting closer to it. Older Kamui recognized that reaction. Because of the fact that his mother could be _that_ sadistic with her punishments, the thought of _anybody_ getting close enough to touch him sent an automatic reaction in his body to avoid said contact. It was a reaction that had developed out of fear to pain, and fear to blood. Shinobi or not... Kamui, or at least the Kamui laying in that bed, was still a kid.

Their father's reaction to what he just had seen was completely embarrassing. Though Kamui loved his father, it was really awkward for him to see him in a weak state, or to see him about to cry. And at that moment, he was definitely losing his usually strong composure.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt you. I'm just going to stop the bleeding and speed the scarring a bit. Relax..."

Hiding his face in his pillow again, little Kamui merely let out a faint "Mm-hmm", and let his father go on with his medical Ninjutsu.

* * *

"I'm sorry for intruding..."

"No, it's okay. Would you like to have some tea? It's still early in the morning..."

"No, thank you. I already had some, at my parents' house."

Silence.

It was truly the most awkward silence Hinata had ever experienced before. Sakura was in her room, which is also something that had never happened before, and what made Hinata even more uncomfortable was the fact that, obviously, their conversation was going to end up being about a certain blond person.

Sakura sat on Hinata's bed (as requested by Hinata herself), and the Hyuuga sat beside her. Both young women spent several seconds gazing at the floor, consumed by their own nervousness and anxiety. But then, right when Hinata was about to go make some tea anyway, Sakura started talking.

"I know it's not really my right to say anything about the matter but... I just wanted to know if it was true that you and... Naruto..." She seemed to blush slightly, and apparently she realized it, so she gazed elsewhere.

"W-when you say it like that..." Hinata felt a tiny drop of nervous sweat drip down her forehead. "...It sounds as if you thought that we had already _been_ together..."

"Ha-have you?" Sakura asked as a reply. She did it with an incredibly high pitched voice, and she stared at Hinata very closely, while blushing. This time, for real. Hinata felt Sakura's blushing was so strong that it kind of was contagious, so ultimately, she blushed as well... As much as she usually did whenever Naruto and her exchanged words, in the past.

"W-well..."

"Oh my God... You _have..._!" Sakura said in a shocked whisper, after which she hid her face behind the parallel pink bangs falling at each side of it, and grabbed her head with her hands, nervously. Although Hinata sort of tried to say something to make her feel better, she first of all had to deal with the great amount of indignation Sakura's comment had produced inside her.

"I'm not the sort of person to be rude to others, Sakura-san... And you know this very well..." Hinata rose from her bed and quietly walked towards the window pane, through which she contemplated the sight of the Hyuuga Mansion's courtyard. While she ignored it, Sakura got a grip and looked at her carefully.

"...But ever since Naruto and I spent the night together, and ever since I felt the warmth I wanted to feel for so long... I received something from him. Or rather, he awakened something within me that's been asleep for too long for me to remember. And now, even if it means denying the Hyuuga Hinata that everybody else sees and remembers, I won't go back to be the same shy, fragile girl..."

"What are you trying to say...?" Sakura asked, her expression dead serious.

"More than trying to say anything, I'm trying to _ask you_... What are your intentions coming here, asking me about Naruto?"

Hinata's voice, when those words were said, was stern and merciless. Those words pierced Sakura completely, even making her hands shake for a bit, and her back feel a slight chill.

"I... Well, you know how things are between us, lately. We hardly ever talk, and almost every time we do, he never really cares about what I'm saying... He's... Cold and... Distant. And I couldn't stand it. Yesterday's mission was like... A nightmare. I guess I've been with Naruto for so long that once there is this much of a gap between us, I can't help but try to do something about it."

"Where is that coming from...?" Hinata clenched her fists, and though she didn't exactly look at Sakura, the pinkette was completely sure her black haired ex-classmate had one hell of a scary stare in her face. The Haruno immediately gulped dryly. She had come to that place knowing full well that a fight was very likely to ensue between them. She had already sensed Hinata's change of character... And she also sensed how now, there were two dangerously bad tempered women in the same room.

"What do you mean?"

"I just don't know what's the point of you telling this to _me_." Hinata relaxed her tense demeanor, and her fists were no longer shaking. "Don't you have Sasuke-kun? Why don't you ask him this sort of questions? Or more importantly, if this is about you and Naruto, why don't you talk to him directly?"

"Well, if I hadn't tried doing that _before_ coming to you, I assure you I wouldn't have come in the first place. But there is only so much Sasuke can do... I can't really put him on a position where he has to choose between Naruto and me. I don't want to. He owes Naruto a lot... As for Naruto himself, well... He doesn't even talk to me. It's always me talking and him pretending to care, when he clearly doesn't..."

"And why do you think that is, Sakura-san...?"

Again, silence.

This time, it was even more tense. It could literally be cut with a knife. Hinata finally turned on her feet, the curtains behind her dancing slightly at the same compass as her long hair. Her expression denoted anything _but_ anger. Even though Sakura had been trained to understand and get the grasp of human behavior and facial expression logic, the Hyuuga Clan was the house of people who were ten times or even twenty times as adept at that aspect as she and every other medical ninja was. After all, the Byakuugan also acted as a kind of _emotional window_, through which the Hyuuga could easily read people's feelings. Even those feelings hidden behind poker faces. This time, though Sakura had never had a patient or a target whom she was unable to read, she felt her natural nemesis had just suddenly appeared out of the blue.

It was clear Hinata didn't like her. Or was it?... There was a very ominous aura about Hinata when it came to Sakura, that much was obvious... But then, when Sakura felt like confronting the silver-eyed heiress, that ominous aura just vanished into nothing and was replaced by the same, traditionally noble kindness. And what was more troubling was that it didn't even seem fake. Hinata really seemed to be honestly nice with her from the bottom of her heart. Which was it...? Did she hate Sakura? Did she like Sakura? Did she care about her, or simply wasn't interested?

"Why do _I_ think that is?"

"Yeah. Haven't you given it a thought? You did say that you have tried talking to Sasuke-kun and to Naruto... Don't tell me that you actually went and asked them things without asking yourself first...? That would be so unlike you..."

"_Yeah, no mistake about it..._" Sakura's eyebrows narrowed slightly at Hinata's voice tone, and face. "..._She is __**definitely**__ not the same person she was before... Or could it be...?"_

"Don't look at me like that..." Hinata smiled in a way that conveyed both gentleness and sarcasm. Such an ambiguous expression that Sakura for a moment thought talking to her was like walking through a maze. "...I told you, didn't I? After Naruto and I slept together, the _me_ that I was purposely hiding came out. This is the real me. I would say _nice to meet you_ or something like that... But first things come first."

She looked at Sakura again, her eyes quite penetrating, yet still gentle.

"Why do you think Naruto has been like this towards you?"

"The obvious answer would be the fact that I married Sasuke, of course..."

"Are there such things as obvious answers?" Hinata's hair was caressed by the morning breeze. So was Sakura's. Both women faced each other as their uniquely colored hair danced with the air. "Naruto felt happy for you and Sasuke-kun... That much hasn't changed just yet. I thought you could see that too..."

"I do sense sincere happiness from him... But then what other reason could be behind his not wanting to even look at me?"

"I kind of understand why is that question so important to you right now, but I think the _actual_ question which should matter the most to you, is being ignored woefully."

"And what is that question...?"

"It's simple. Why does it even matter to you whether Naruto is there or not? You're married now. With the man that, if I'm not mistaken, was the prince charming from your dreams... So, again, what importance does it have, whether Naruto speaks to you or not... Whether he smiles or glares at you... Doesn't he pale in comparison to the man you've always dreamed of? Or maybe..." Hinata, as if Sakura hadn't got enough of unexpected expressions from her face, sent yet another freezing expression as a piercing bolt towards the Haruno, who felt her back once again have a chilling sensation. It was a smile, yet not quite a smile. It was an expression that transmitted a heavy killing intent, meld with mockery and kindness.

"... Maybe it's just that Sasuke-kun is not really enough, anymore? Maybe, as you said, you've been with Naruto for so long that suddenly, he doesn't feel like a wrong choice...? Even if you already committed yourself to that man you love?"

"You're speaking as if I'm here at your house because I'm jealous of you and Naruto, or something..."

"How else would you feel, if you were in my shoes?" Hinata's expression became even more troubling, once Sakura avoided the question (regrettably). "How would you feel if I was the one going to your house asking whether or not you and Sasuke-kun have already been together...? Wouldn't you feel like saying, _and what business is that of yours_?

"In that case, I'd use that same remark bluntly. You and Sasuke have never had any kind of contact. It'd only be right from me to say that, if that had ever happened."

"I can't say I disagree. But it seems you're putting it in such a way that now _I'm_ the one who doesn't have the right to ask what business is it of yours, whether Naruto and I slept together... You may think you have all the right to ask due to you two being teammates, and so on. But make no mistake. You made your choice when you married Sasuke-kun. No, your choice was made way before that. The wedding was just a way to kill Naruto's slightest possible hint of hope that he might have your eyes for him and for him only. Once that hope was destroyed, and once Naruto realized that love wasn't something born out of hard work alone, but also from the sincere desire to love in the first place... Once he realized my feelings, he accepted me."

"Why does everyone, _everyone_, including you, blame me for not choosing him? Why? Why do people concern themselves with the love life of another person? Why can't I just keep loving Sasuke without getting this much hatred?"

"What?" Hinata shook her head, showing eyes with a hint of pity. "Sakura-san, why do you even think people care about your love life so much in the first place? It's never been about you. You already have your position in the village, and no matter what you do, that position won't change... Nobody hates you. Everybody loves the Sannin's disciple. It's always been about Naruto... Ever since he became the village's hero. And even if I feel bad for people suddenly loving him after treating him like an outcast for so long... I can't say that their feelings towards him are fake. They sincerely want his happiness. It's not about you choosing Sasuke per se... More like it's about you simply ignoring Naruto. Maybe they feel like Naruto was the logical choice, considering Sasuke's background, and the things both you and Naruto have been through... Naturally, once the invitations for your wedding with Sasuke were delivered, they felt disappointed. They know how Naruto loved you. Everybody did. The fact that _you_ knew as well, only makes it worse."

"But you say the same words they say... You put Naruto's suffering in my shoulders..." Sakura snapped her tongue, clenching her fists. "I never wanted Naruto to love me. I never wanted him to get hurt. I never..."

"Then why _lying_ to him?"

"What?"

"Don't look so surprised. We shared our bodies. And far more than just that. That night was full of both sleep and secrets being revealed. Secrets about ourselves. Things we didn't know. And what do I find...? What do my ears listen to? That you, all full of yourself... Yet, perhaps with a sincere, good intent, went to the Land of Iron and confessed to Naruto. But such confession was so miserably bad performed that Naruto could tell right away between truth and lies. Don't you see...?" Hinata finally let out her frustration in an incredibly fast glare.

"It's not just because of you choosing Sasuke. Naruto already knew your feelings. And he was slowly, painfully, but steadily dealing with that... And he was about to be free. Why, then... Why would you ruin that person's hard work and wishes to get over those feelings with such a horrible lie? _That's what Naruto felt hurt the most about!"_

Sakura wanted to look elsewhere, to escape Hinata's deadly, yet silent glare. Her frustration and her anger were being transmitted to Sakura like invisible fireballs, setting her whole body and soul in fire. A fire called guilt. It was her own selfish whim, after all, to try and confess to her friend just so he would forget about that promise he made to her.

"I..."

"Actually... It was nice of you to come to my house, after all." Hinata folded her arms. "Because here, in my room, alone with you... I don't need to deal with a captain-subordinate relationship. Here, I don't need to keep up any appearances... Not that I'm willing to do that from now on, but anyway...You have no idea how long have I waited for the chance to get these words out of myself. You always had him close to you, while I could only watch from afar... Yeah, due to my own shyness. But I also knew his feelings. I was trying to do for him the same thing he tried to do for you. To be able to support you and grant you happiness... I wanted to do that for him. It was good enough. It was good enough already, just to let him heal those scars away, and forget about you... But no, you had to come and lie to him with _those_ words...!"

"Stop that. Stop putting it as if I planned to hurt him beforehand! Hinata, there was a war about to break between Konoha and Kumo because of Sasuke! I was trying to protect Naruto, I was trying to save him, as much as I wanted to save Sasuke!" Sakura said loudly, standing up and facing Hinata fiercely.

"What good is there in trying to save someone through _lies_?!" Hinata replied, just as loudly. "You just don't get it, do you? You don't understand how important were those words for him! If I hadn't risked my life so stupidly back then when Pain attacked... If I hadn't said to him how much I loved him and how important it was for me to die if it was so that he could live... If that hadn't happened, then you would have been the FIRST person to ever tell him he was loved... The FIRST, and also, the one who lies!"

"So, I wasn't the first one to say it! It was you! So why are you bringing this up now?"

"It's not just a matter of who is first and who is second! It's also a matter of how much does that mean to him! Why is it that you're his teammate and yet you're so blind to these things?!"

"Blind to what?"

"He grew up alone! Everybody hated him! No matter who he went to, everybody else looked at him with the eyes of someone who held a clear grudge... Do you understand how important it is for him to hear that he's loved?" Hinata then let thin, silver tears flow down from her eyes. Sakura felt shocked.

"Why would you use _those_ words?! Why?! He had dreamed of a world in which you said those words to him, with sincere eyes... With an honest heart. He had dreamed of the day in which you FELT that way towards him... He could sometimes find himself trying to imitate your voice saying those words... And then, when you finally say them... You're lying! You broke his heart to such an extent that a scar has been left there... A wound... And it's still bleeding!"

Sakura's balance was lost as she reflected on the words she had just heard. Her hips landed on Hinata's bed mutedly, as her jade eyes trembled with the pain of realization. Certain words from the time she had made the infamous confession were still fresh in her memory: "_I hate people who lie to themselves..."_

You could have mentioned anybody else. You could have said you loved someone else. You could have said the truth, in fact! But instead of all that, you chose the one thing that would hurt him the most... So tell me, now that he has finally realized how much do _I_ love him for real, and after he and I were able to be each other's "first"... Tell me how in the world do I not have the right to ask what business is it of yours, whether or not I slept with him?" Hinata wiped out her tears strongly, her voice still unshaken, while Sakura's face was hidden behind her bangs once more.

"I answered your question because there is nothing for me to be ashamed for. I love him. There is nobody else I would have accepted to give my body to. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way, and I'm happy things went the way they went. His childishness... His hyperactivity... His silly, yet understanding self... I want and love _everything_ about him. And the fact that I got to have all what he is for myself, is something I'd gladly boast about... And to be honest, I feel great rubbing it in your face." She gazed elsewhere, while Sakura looked at her.

"It may sound harsh, immature... Whatever. I don't care. As long as I can give the world a glimpse of how wonderful he is, I will boast about him nonstop. Unlike you, I want to worry about _his_ happiness before he worries about _mine_. And I don't want his heart to be hurt ever again... I won't let anybody near him. I will protect him, even if I have to become a murderer, even if I have to betray the most sacred teachings from my family, I will be by his side and I will never abandon him. Those wounds that you so carelessly left inside him... I will be the one who cures them and heals them, until they disappear. Even if you think your good intentions can forgive the wrong actions... Even if you try to feel better about yourself by saying that what's important is the outcome, and not the methods... The likes of you, I will never allow to even see his heart. Ever again. That's what's inside my heart. This is the real me."

"Hinata..." Sakura rose from the Hyuuga's bed, and once again faced her. The pinkette smiled with the warmest expression possible, which clearly made Hinata's coldly steady demeanor soften a lot. "... You are right. I needed to hear those words. And... I realize now that all what you've said is the truth. I have hurt him in ways far more complicated than just marrying Sasuke... But don't force me to abandon him."

"What...?" Hinata asked, her eyes ready to glare.

"Perhaps I can't give him as much love as you can. But there is no need now, since he has you... And, it's not like I ever could... Since I love Sasuke. But please believe me when I say that he's important to me, even though I've hurt him so much... Even though it might appear like I don't care, like I used him... The truth is, I really, really love him. He's like... The brother I could never have... And he is important to me. I need to at least save our friendship... I need to be able to smile with him again... So please... Help me. I'm desperate, you see. Team Seven was never just Sasuke and me... Without Naruto, it's never going to be Team Seven... I already lost one member to hatred, and after recovering him I don't want to lose anybody ever again. Not this time. Not when I know that I can do something about it."

Silence. Hinata and Sakura looked at each other closely, not even blinking, for several seconds. The tension became softer, though it could still be cut in two. However, before Hinata could even say anything, the door to her room knocked three times.

"Hinata-sama?"

"Yes, what is it?" Hinata asked, almost giving her annoyance away with the tone of her voice.

"Um... Sorry to interrupt you, but these two gentlemen have been here for a long time, right outside your room... They didn't want to interrupt your conversation, so they waited here."

"_Two gentlemen...? Oh no, don't tell me...?!"_

One exchange of looks was enough for Hinata to understand how Sakura had the same thoughts. Both of them blushed right away, as the door was opened, and through it, a certain blond, fox-looking young man appeared, followed by certain other young man with the hair structure of a black hawk and black eyes. There was an incredibly smug, yet soft expression in their faces, which made both girls blush even more.

Hinata could only wonder how much had Naruto and Sasuke listened to, while waiting...?

* * *

It was in a matter of seconds, perhaps even sooner than that. In one moment, older Kamui was getting a glimpse of his own father curing the wounds in his younger self's back with medical ninjutsu, and after the blink of an eye, the scenery had changed abruptly.

Now, older Kamui had been sent to the same village where the mansion was, behind a teenager who was walking peacefully down the main street, which was particularly crowded that moning. Kamui knew right then and there that time had ran forward, and that the memory of his childhood was no longer necessary. Well, it was to be expected. Looking at the wounds in his child version's back was enough for him to recall everything he had experienced as Satsuki's son during those years. Whether it was because of the Jutsu's logic, or because of his own feelings, or both... The fact is, the one Kamui was watching over as an invisible spirit was no longer the chubby, short-haired kid that he had been seeing up until seconds before.

The one he was now watching was considerably taller, kept his hair as red and curly as ever, but this time it was remarkably long. It waved and flapped around like a living flag, every single step he took. Kamui recognized that teenager as himself when he was fourteen. Not too different from what he was now, except for his body being somewhat thinner, and his skin whiter.

It had been seconds to Kamui, but for his other version, it had been seven years. And thanks to the previous memory of his time as a kid, he could remember pretty much everything that happened in those seven years. Right after his father made his wounds stop bleeding, he rushed to the mansion's living room, whence he would find Satsuki... And a furious duel would ensue. He had been present in those moments when his father literally lost it, but in that moment, anything he knew of his father was deemed worthless. That moment was the first for little Kamui to see his father completely enraged and craving for revenge. So much that he had to be stopped by some of his most loyal subordinates from killing Satsuki in the most awful manner possible.

She was banished from the mansion and from any other Uzumaki premises permanently, and that was the last time Kamui saw her... The years after that, were filled of happy memories of him and the rest of his family. Paternal grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. His father married a second woman, with whom he had already have two children. Kamui's siblings. Kamui began his personal training with his father, who promised to spend more time with him in exchange for his elder son to take over the seat of the Uzumaki Clan's representative, while he went back to his travels in search for more relatives.

Sure enough, Kamui's skills as a shinobi and as an Uzumaki heir flew up as high as a rocket in a matter of months, after which his entire education would focus on politics, diplomacy, strategy and social relationships. He learned that the mansion could afford to boldly put flags and symbols of their Clan here and there thanks to a powerful genjutsu that made any outsider and/or intruder temporally think he's lost, or that he's forgotten something, right before he trespasses the threshold. The cover they had as a family while living on that small village, called _Heiwa_, was that they were simply an independent organization of Shinobi, descendants of a rich and powerful Daimyo.

Nobody really complained or denied their existence, rather, all the people in that village seemed to love them... Especially Kamui's Father, as a huge percentage of the village's first endeavors were possible thanks to his financial cooperation. By the time Kamui was thirteen, rumors of a criminal Organization called Akatsuki had reached his father's ears, and both him and Kamui's stepmother decided to go and get intel. Kamui became the de facto representative of the Clan, a position much like the Head.

The moment that memory was letting older Kamui see this time, began a year after getting that position. Though there was a lot of noise coming from the crowds buying and eating from the different food stands spread along the main street, Kamui's younger version seemed to feel little to no interest in any of that. He wore a traditional white yukata, with a large display of the Uzumaki symbol on his back, often concealed by his dancing red hair. His green eyes looked forward, a gaze warm enough to denote friendliness, yet cold enough to request not to waste his time. Villagers and tourists alike kept the whispering going as soon as he walked past them, heading towards the mansion. Some wealthy house owners waved at him excitedly, and he waved back at them, with a smile on his face that was very well _feigned._

"_Of course... My father had always been the charismatic, charming politician... But there was no use for me to be like that, at least not back then. Being a young leader, what you must always be clear with is your seriousness... And I took that advice a bit way too seriously."_ The Older Kamui thought, as he tried to catch anything worth remembering on that scenery. The village itself hadn't changed that much at all, only it was a bit greener than before, what with many trees adorning it. Some of them were sakura trees. There certainly were many more mansions besides the Uzumaki Clan's, which was all the better for them. It made it easier to blend within the others.

"Oh, it really is _him..._!" An outsider's voice said loudly, after which both Kamui's (who seemed to be both deeply in thought) quickly looked to their left and found themselves a few feet away from a particularly fancy food stand. It was so big that it literally outshone other stands by far, something that the owners of said stands didn't seem to enjoy one bit, as because of that they were losing custom. Behind the stand was an old man of friendly appearance, fluffy white beard and thin eyes, and who was also cooking and decorating the food. There were several octopus meatballs, ridiculously cute bento's, and above all, multiple sweets. The smell of the freshly cooked food sent an obvious reaction from within younger Kamui's stomach.

"Ah, Tetsuya-san... Good morning." Young Kamui said, getting nearer to the stand and waving politely. The man named Tetsuya, who had identified Kamui before, smiled as a reply.

"Good morning, Kamui-dono. How is business treating you today...?"

"Haha, today's Sunday, Tetsuya-san. No matter how hungry I might be for money, I'm afraid Sundays are strictly reserved for resting." Kamui answered, and his older, ghostly self could easily sense how he had already put on the infamous mask. He was now using that cheerful, polite personality that he was so popular for, yet it didn't really belong to him. With villagers, he was a kind, caring business "man". With potential business partners, or people who were nobles, the personality switch quickly changed to the still-cheerful-yet-too-scary-to-be-joked-with. No one seemed to know of his _real_ self. Not besides his family, anyway, and even then... Some of them could never understand him.

"Oho... Is that so? Well, in that case, let us not speak of such things as business and money, then! Why don't you try out one of these bento's? Do not worry, it is on the house!"

"Oh, my. Is that really acceptable? Wouldn't that be unfair to other customers, Tetsuya-san?" Kamui said, smiling nervously as he felt the deadly glare of several tourists making a row beside him, waiting for Tetsuya's assistants to deliver their orders. "I'm sure they would also love a free bento, just as much as I would... Just let me pay for it."

Kamui used the fast movements of a shuriken user to retrieve money from his inner pants' pocket, and grab one of the take-away-bento's. Tetsuya received the money with a childish expression on his face, which made Kamui feel quite awkward.

"I swear, Kamui-dono... One of these days, you will feel the need of being treated especially, and my family shall be the one to be there for you!" The man said, bowing unnecessarily low in front of Kamui, whose cheeks turned red slightly as he waved his hand, trying to reduce the formality of the conversation, if only a little bit.

"N-no, it's all right, I'm sure _Otou-sama_ would agree with me that no especial treatment is needed for us. Please just let us be part of the community, and think of us as any other normal family." Kamui bowed as much as Tetsuya did, which made the old man embarrassed in return. The crowd around them had already went back to their normal. noisy behavior, so their awkward relationship was soon left forgotten.

"Oh, that reminds me, Kamui-dono... I will be eternally ashamed of myself for doing this, but would you mind doing me a favor?" The man joined his hands as if he was praying.

"What is it...?"

* * *

[About thirty minutes later...]

* * *

" *Sigh*... How did it end up like _this_?" Younger Kamui said, as he walked with haste towards the outskirts of the village, down to the south. They were in the middle of summer, so he was looking forward to be back at the mansion and finally be able to get rid of his incredibly annoying hot yukata, after which he would wear his normal, fresh outfit. But no, he had to go and be kind enough to accept Tetsuya's request. And now, not only was he really not standing the heat, but also he was about to enter the woods... Which were probably even hotter, and of course, humid. He really hated hot weather. It took his breath away and it made him unwilling to do anything at all. Funnily enough, though, his body decided for itself that it was good to do that favor to Tetsuya...

... The old man's voice still resonated in his ears: "_You see, my daughter's left our mansion since early in the morning, and she was supposed to help us out with the stand, at least until the festival is over... I don't really mind if she does not come, she's a girl after all... But she is way too stubborn and she won't come back for lunch. Can you please deliver this bento to her? I'd be eternally obliged, Kamui-dono!_"

Of course, Kamui's social standing was such a demanding position, that even when he wanted to say "hell, no", he was forced to say "why didn't you ask sooner?". This time though, if he had been smart enough to not accept the request _until_ Tetsuya had given him the details, he might have been able to politely decline. But because of him being an idiot (he himself admits it) , he accepted from the start, and _then_ he was told to go out to the woods.

"_Well, can't help it... Besides, it can't be too much of a big deal. It's only a little girl, right?_"

He tied his long hair in a pony tail as he reached the heart of the woods, and the sound of running water. It would have been incredibly easier for him to simply move as a shinobi, though he had to be very careful. If he gave away his nature as a Ninja, he would draw too much suspicion towards his Clan. That, and of course, the bento's would pretty much get messed up (he hadn't touched his until then). That being clear, he kept walking naturally, using ninja senses to at least be more aware of his surroundings than a normal person would, anyway. He knew full well that those woods were highly dangerous. Not only some tree trunks were overcast by mold, which happened to be poisonous, but also booty hunters, mercenaries, rogue nins and all sorts of shady looking people were usually lurking around. Well, after all, it was no secret that the prettier and bigger a village is, the uglier and bigger its dark side was. The Uzumaki were fully aware, as a Ninja Clan themselves, that criminal groups with high ranking levels of strength often roamed about over Heiwa no Sato. To hide their headquarters or their equipment, they used the woods at the south exit of the village.

"_Thinking of which..."_ Kamui's expression became a bit more serious. The sweat in his body had already dried thanks to him adapting to the environment, and if there was one or two drops, it was because of him trying to not lose focus due to fear. No matter what anybody says, being a shinobi will always be scary. Even if you don't fear death. "_...What kind of girl would be reckless enough to come to these woods in particular, knowing how dangerous it is...?"_

Even though it was Sunday, and though usually, even _those_ dangerous people chose to have a little rest... It was always better not to trust one's judgment. If anyone knew that, it was Kamui. A certain woman used to send him through that forest many times, and he was close to die too many times as well, especially for a little kid. If he, despite having some knowledge and agility, was still hurt and sometimes badly injured by those people as a kid, then what in the world could happen to her...?

He sped up his steps and tried his best not to make any noise. The small river was getting close, and now the sound of water was increasing in strength. Enough to muffle Kamui's steps on the grass and the occasional twigs. As soon as the view wasn't blocked by trees and huge branches, he finally arrived to a wide glade. As he was expecting of it, there was a fairly medium-sized cascade falling down a plateau, and its water continued to flow as a thin, snake-like river for as long as the eye could see. Kamui didn't reveal himself too soon though, and opted for reading the situation. Tetsuya had mentioned his daughter was supposed to be there, looking at the waterfall and the small pool of water that formed before the river took shape. But as far as Kamui could see, there was no one there.

Kamui's relief for not having to deal with the likes of a female when he wanted to sleep more than anything lasted for exactly three seconds. Once the third second died and passed away, what sounded like the crying voice of a girl came to his ears. He turned on his feet and gently placed the bag with the two bento's on the ground, determined to listen a bit more before giving away his position.

"...think you're doing, you bastard?! Let go of me now!" The female voice said with rage bursting out of its owner's throat.

"See, you should behave a bit more, onee-chan. Whether or not we're gentle with you depends on that much..." Another voice said, this time male and filled with a sickening mockery that sent a chill down Kamui's spine. The man appeared to be accompanied by his partners, about three or four, as their grins were loud enough for Kamui to hear.

"Who gives a shit about what you want to do...? It's not like I'm gonna let you touch me more than what you already have! You go any further and I'll freaking cut your balls off!"

The owners of such voices showed up from behind some of the rocks surrounding the pool. Once the visual contact was possible, Kamui felt like his heart was torn between jumping into action and running away right then. It wasn't a _girl_, it was a _woman_. About twenty or so years old. The first thing Kamui was surprised about (other than the fact that she was obviously older, and probably more mature than him) was her incredibly long, straight and shiny black hair. It fell over her slender, feminine shape like an ebony cascade, much like the crystal clear one beside them. It was easy to identify her quick, blazing temper from the ferocious glare with which she was looking at her attackers: mercenary ninja with hoods, intimidating masks, and even more intimidating tools.

"_Tch...! And here I thought this was about a defenseless kid... Turns out it's about a nut-head woman. I don't know if I should say __**serves you right**__, or __**don't worry, I'll help you**__..._" Kamui frowned while sighing in frustration. "..._The worst part is when I'm not even allowed to use my tools... I would be giving away my position as a Ninja... Guess I'll have to talk this out._"

"Oi, oi... Don't be saying such scary things from that cute mouth, onee-chan. Let us take care of you, will ya? We would really hate having to use these babies on your gorgeous body. Why don't we just have some fun?" Said the masked guy to her right, while another one restrained her hands from behind. The other two kept grinning.

"I'd never have _any_ sort of "fun" with the likes of you sick nut-heads... I rather die!"

"_...Come on... Make it easier for me, will you?_" Kamui thought, slightly annoyed that his chance to talk things out with the mercenaries was slipping through his fingers thanks to her putting more wood to the fire. As he sensed the killing intent from the thugs, his expression finally reached its tolerance limit, hence he prepared for interrupting.

"Well then, since you asked so nicely, we'll just send your daddy a reward for bringing such a lady to this world..." The man on the center said. "A pity that she has no manners with men..."

"All righty, that's about enough." Kamui said loudly, as he used some of his agility to jump straight to the rock behind them. While looking down on both the woman and the thugs, his green eyes gave a strong, emerald light, and his red hair was set loose (the rubber band not being strong enough to tie it).

"Huh?" The woman and the thugs looked at him completely astonished.

"What do you mean _about enough_? Have you been watching the whole time while doing nothing?!" The woman said loudly, her fierce glare piercing all the mercenaries easily and aiming to do so with Kamui, who remained nonchalant about it. He jumped down and walked towards them.

"I was hoping to reach a pacific solution, but turns out your mouth is a little bit too rough to keep anybody cool." Kamui said, as his white yukata flapped behind him. The woman's glare constantly tried to pierce through him, as if there were killer bees trying to sting him yet some especial barrier stood against them.

"_Temeee...!_" The woman struggled from the restraint of her hands, her eyes sparkling with fury. "...You're with _them_, aren't you? You're trying to play hero and and gain something from me, huh? Pathetic! Not to mention you did the job poorly!"

"You're a bit conceited, huh?" Kamui looked at her with total indifference. "You think I'd spend the whole Sunday trying to be _your_ personal hero? How old are you, again?"

"Well guys, it looks like someone has just gone and joined the group of heavy bounties for us today!" The apparent leader of the thugs said, as Kamui and the woman stared/glared at each other (respectively) while completely ignoring them. They all chuckled together, spinning their giant Shurikens and playing around with rusty, bloody-looking katanas. The leader, however, gave off a different kind of feeling. He had no weapons in hand, and unlike his companions, he seemed calm and collected.

"_Koitsu..._" Kamui stared at him closely. "..._Just what is he trying to pull off...? It's obvious his men are Chuunin rank at minimum..._ _If he really was trying to rape her or something, he could have easily done it since the start. He could have blocked her movements through hitting her muscles, or used Genjutsu... That much, a Chuunin must be capable of... Furthermore, isn't a Chuunin captain often in the same level as a Jounin...?_"

"Hey, genius guy! Why don't you just get out of here? It was bad enough without you showing up! Now I have to deal with these guys because of you..." The woman said, still struggling with the man binding her.

"Why don't you just shut up and let me do what you can't do?" Kamui said coolly, still studying the leader with his eyes.

"Huh? Excuse me? What is a rich, spoiled, mamma-boy brat like you acting all high and mighty for? Give me a break!" She yelled as she hit her captor's chin with her head. She was released from his grip, but that only lasted a second or two. The man regained his composure and this time, tied her hands with chains before she had the chance to counter attack.

"See...? Like I said, you better just keep quiet and stop hindering me. I'm trying to help here." Kamui said, his back turned at her, though his yukata's Uzumaki symbol (which changed to a plain, normal circle once other people looked at it, as part of a variant of a Henge no Jutsu to avoid drawing attention) was visible as the wind made his red hair wave for a bit.

"... Also, if you **ever** dare to call me a mamma's boy again..." The young Clan representative suddenly glared at her, his emerald orbs displaying a heavy, killing intent. The woman's expression showed a shade of fear "...I _will_ kill you."

He returned his gaze to the thug leader (turning his head at him with unnecessary force and making his hair wave again). Unbeknownst to him, that was enough for his symbol to be visible for the woman. She stared at it closely, lost in her own thoughts.

"Say, the perverted onii-san there..." Kamui moved his head, pointing at the one in charge of the other thugs. He moved from his position (laying his back against the rock from which Kamui had jumped off) and walked a few steps closer. He chuckled.

"Huh? Now that's quite the judgmental remark you have there, gaki... Aren't you underestimating the position you are in? Why don't you take a look again...?"

"It's _because_ I've been looking at it, that I wanted to talk to you." Kamui folded his arms and closed his eyes while sighing. "You guys... You weren't really aiming for raping this noisy woman, were you?"

"Who are you calling a noisy woman...?"

"Shut up and listen."

Both the red head and the masked mercenary exchanged some quiet, thoughtful looks with each other, his henchemen growing hungrier for blood and lust towards the woman.

"And who are you?"

"That's what I'd like to ask..." Kamui said, smirking. "...Sure, Heiwa no Sato has got plenty of people like these guys..." He pointed at the chuunin with his thumb. "...But an easy going fellow who actually _can_ speak instead of trying to shove his dick inside girl's throats from the start is a first around these parts. But never mind that now..." His smirk became more sarcastic. "...The way I see it, you convinced these guys to help you track this woman down, perhaps by promising they could have her as a reward... But you have some other plans for her, don't you? It was kind of careless from you to mention her father..."

"Just as careless as it is from you to reveal your deducting skills to a mysterious masked man, especially without even fighting him first." He said. "You... Heh, obviously, there's quite the long record of Shinobi education spent on you, isn't there...?"

"Heh!" Kamui let out a tiny chuckle, though inside, his stomach felt a horrible feeling of emptiness. "So I was right. You're a Jounin... A rogue one. I wonder which village is having its reputation stepped on by you..."

"Just as I wonder who would have enough money to raise such a young, Chuunin-level kid away from any of the Five Great Villages... Unless of course, there's something else you're hiding behind those skills of yours."

"Unfortunately for you..." Kamui unfolded his arms and clenched his feet. "...There is nothing else hiding nowhere. The woman you're trying to abduct has been put under my care by her father, a task for which I was trained to have these skills. And even more unfortunately, I dislike having useless conversations while the person I have to protect is still in danger..."

"Pfffffft hahahahahahaha!" The woman burst into laughter, interrupting the gloomy conversation. "_You?_ Protect _me_? Asked by my father? What have you been drinking?! What are you going to do to protect me, try to stab these people with money? Not even Dad is _that_ stupid! I bet you don't even know his name..."

"_Bakayaro!_" Kamui thought, his angry vein itching right in the middle of his forehead. "_Don't you see I'm trying to save us BOTH? I told you to stay quiet_..._!_" He slowly glared, yet smiled at her, his killing intent quite apparent. She stopped laughing. "With a salary like the one _Tetsuya-sama_ is providing, it's impossible to forget his name, you know!"

Kamui, using all the possible capabilities for a human being to convey a message without using any signs or words, stared at the woman for a bit. She did seem surprised to know he did have her father's name, and somehow, she seemed to understand the message.

"Huh? Well, not bad for the new guy!"

Kamui looked at the rogue Jounin again, trying to not letting his intentions slip. He had to convince him for sure that there was no way a Clan could be on that village. Neither a Clan, nor anything that could produce shinobi like him. But the act of him being the woman's bodyguard seemed to be losing credibility thanks to her previous statement. And it seemed the Jounin was noticing way more than necessary.

"I see. So the origin of your skills lies in your objective to be this woman's bodyguard..." The Jounin snorted."...Quite the interesting reason to learn Ninja Arts, you don't seem to get along that well. I wonder if it's not her father's name, but **hers**, the one you don't even know..."

"It's Kurohime." Kamui replied instantly, no expression in his voice. The wind blew particularly strongly then, making his eyes be concealed by his hair. The woman behind him had suddenly lost her will to talk, as she seemed completely surprised. "Inoue Kurohime."

"Oh, so you know it..." The Jounin chuckled. "...Very well then. I suppose there's only one way to get out of this situation..."

"No, there's actually two ways." Kamui replied, showing his index and heart fingers to him. His expression still as empty as a white canvas.

"_Two?..._May I ask what are they?" The jounin unfolded his arms, his interest evidently caught.

"Of course. The natural way for things to end right now is for us to fight, and see who wins. I don't know about you, but I'm not too excited to battle today...Why don't we go for the quiet, peaceful way?"

"And how would that possibly work?"

"How much were you intending to ask as ransom from the Inoue Family?" Kamui asked bluntly, over the sound of the Jounin's henchmen complaints (their bloodlust was getting over the edge).

"Five hundred grand."

Kamui put a hand on his pocket and searched for a particular bundle inside it. He retrieved what looked like a small, black bag full of something. He throwed it to the jounin, who caught it in mid-air.

"There's a couple grand more than that there. Take it. And leave. Do not attack or target the Inoue family ever again. You agree to those conditions, and I let you go with that money, which of course, you can count if you like."

Ignoring the last line, the jounin had already counted the money faster than any other person would be able to. He pocked it without any other reaction, and then looked back at Kamui.

"What about the third choice?"

"What's that...?" Kamui asked, his heart already preparing for it. The Jounin made some quick seals and began fading away in a white smokescreen.

"We take the money _and_ your lives. Guys, off with their heads. I'll go on ahead and report this to our boss!"

With that, he finally disappeared. With a loud and hungry "roger!", the chuunin let out roars of battle and blood-thirst. Kurohime, who was still in shock, was left on the ground as the three chunnin hovered and jumped around them like black blurs. Kamui snapped his tongue in frustration, while helping her stand up.

"Daejobuka...?"

"Well, I am now, but it seems your bluff about having ninja skills didn't work... What now?" She said lowly, as the trio of thugs kept jumping from rock to rock, laughing like starving hyenas. Spine-chilling remarks such as "which arm do we take first" or "don't cut the throat too soon or they'll die before we can even start the fun" could oftenly be heard from the swirl of jumping ninja.

"There was almost nothing deceptive in what I said." Kamui replied, as he leered with an annoyed expression at them. Kurohime's eyes on him. "Just stay behind me and don't leave my side. As long as we;re clear on that, we're good."

"Okay." She did as ordered, and pressed her back against his.

"Close your eyes. You might think you're tough, but you're still a woman..."

"Tch!... For a brat to be this cocky..." She said with a low voice, yet she did as she was told again. Kamui snorted mockingly and tied his hair again.

"Okay! Which one of you brainless idiots wants to go to hell first?"

The loud shouts of laughter coming from the surrounding ninja was deafening.

"Oh, so he's still putting up the ninja act?!"

"He did say senchou was the only one who could actually talk back then... That was kinda insulting, wasn't it?"

"Well, why don't we show him how much of a beast we really are?!"

The three of them finally dashed at Kamui with amazing speed, weilding kunais longer than usual. Kamui, who skillfully read their movements, clapped his hands together after a quick series of seals.

"Kuchiyose! Shouryuusen no Tsurugi!" He said quietly, as a white smoke bomb was released from his hands. Out of it, the red head produced a thin, long katana with a black and green handle adorned by emerald shards. He dashed at the three opponents, and attacked with a single, agile slash.

In a blink of an eye, Kamui was several feet away, right behind them. They had stopped their movements as if they had hit an invisible wall. Their weapons shattered into pieces, their uniforms were torn apart, and blood came out of countless bruises caused by Kamui's slashing attack. After a horrible scream of pain, the three of them fell to the ground, lifeless. Kamui's long katana, which was still clean despite the fact that it had just cut through flesh, disappeared in another white smoke-bomb, as Kamui patted Kurohime on her shoulder twice.

"You can open them now. It's over. Come on."

* * *

"Did you eat what I told you for breakfast?"

"Yup."

"Is the orange juice finished or do you still have some...?"

"Well, Sasuke came to visit, so I shared some with him... I think it's about to finish."

"What about the fruits...?"

"Still have some. I need vegetables, though... I have none."

"What? You should have told me! Come on, let's go buy some..."

"We can worry about that later, Hinata. Don't you think we kind of have an unsolved matter in our hands here...?"

Naruto moved his head in such a way that he could point at Sasuke and Sakura, who were watching and hearing their conversation. They were outside, in the courtyard (Hinata's room didn't look like the perfect place to hold a meeting, especially when said meeting has many odds of turning into a fight. Occasional Hyuuga Clan members walked around the long, square shaped corridor of the Hyuuga mansion glancing at Hinata and the three main members of Team Seven with a rather surprised look on their eyes. Many of them did wave at Naruto with friendly expressions, as he was quite popular due to his past battle with Neji and the fact that Hinata had an obvious crush on him since a long time ago. The young shinobi always said hello back at them almost like ignoring the fact that there was a very thick cloud of awkwardness between the only female pair. However, a chill went down Hinata and the rest's spine as the fourth or so Hyuuga that had decided to take a stroll over the mansion was no other than Hiashi himself.

"Oh? It seems we had visitors..." He said with a calm, deep voice. Naruto had a particularly strong feeling of uneasiness. When he exchanged a look with Sasuke, the latter's expression assured the Uzumaki that his friend totally understood what he was feeling all worried about. Hinata gave Naruto's hand a small and stealthy squeeze, as her expression (which was previously a mixture of absent minded and annoyed) became suddenly solemn and oddly happy.

"H-hai, Otou-san. Good morning." She said, and with a head sign, she non-verbally commanded the rest to do as she did. Sakura and Sasuke immediately stood up, and with Naruto and his black-haired implied girlfriend, all four of them bowed with grace.

"Good morning, Hiashi-sama. Excuse us for the intrusion."

"Not at all, not at all..." Hiashi said, as he reached them, walking with shocking ease, for someone wearing such a long and tedious yukata. He smiled kindheartedly and bowed in return. "... I understand you took good care of Hinata in your last mission, especially you, Naruto..."

The mentioned young man felt the hair in his neck freeze up. Whether he was being too paranoid for his usual self, or his hunch about Hiashi carefully hiding his parental killing intent being true, the fact is that he felt more scared than ever before. Somehow, he felt like being eaten by Son Goku back in the war was like a walk in the park.

"A-actually, sir, please let me admit that it was the other way around many times. You see, Hinata-sama proved to be a huge asset to us on our mission. Thanks to her abilities, we were able to succeed." Sakura and Sasuke looked at him without losing focus, but risking a fairly surprised gaze. Naruto could understand what it was for. Even he would have looked at himself in the same way, if he had seen himself talking and acting like that, when his popularity came from calling people Hiashi's age "Ossan" or "Pops", and similar other traits.

"_Come on, guys, give me a break... I know I sound weird, but I can't help it... I took his little girl's innocence, I could at least be polite with him... Even if he still doesn't know about it._" He tried to say, though he ended up only thinking it, wishing Sasuke or Sakura could read his mind at times like those. Hinata seemed equally nervous, as her blush was becoming redder than usual.

"Well, I thank you for praising my daughter so. Hinata, make sure you keep up the good work. Ever since the war ended, I've received nothing but positive comments from the Hyuuga Clan's performance... Especially Neji and yourself. Be careful not to let those expectations down."

"H-hai. Thank you, Otou-san. Are you leaving the mansion today as well...?"

"I'm afraid so. You see, being one of the Head Councilors of Konoha, I need to be present on all the meetings regarding the birth of a new Shinobi Alliance. We Hyuuga must participate. Hanabi will be there with me, so you don't need to worry about me." He smiled again. Hinata seemed very moved by her father's surprisingly friendly behavior. "Have fun with your friends today. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura..." He bowed again. They did the same, and he kept on his way out, gracefully and silently walking like a physical ghost.

"Oh, by the way, Naruto..." Hiashi turned his head a bit. Naruto stood in his position so sternly that he seemed paralyzed for a moment.

"Yes, sir?"

"Since you have chosen my daughter as your fiancée, I would like you to introduce yourself properly into the Clan soon. We'll hold a especial dinner celebration for that. And you are free to soften your defenses, I am not going to harm my Son-in-law... As long as he does his job properly, of course." With that being said, he let out a small, curiously chilling grin and disappeared beyond the corridor's door.

"Wh-what...? What did he just say?" Naruto looked at Hinata, who looked like the typical guilty thief when he whistled and gazed elsewhere. She wasn't whistling, but it was obvious she couldn't face him properly.

"W-well... How to explain...?"

"She's trying to say that she already told her father that you and his daughter have been playing Swords and Caves." Sasuke said bluntly, earning the burning red faces of the three shinobi beside him.

"Sasuke! Manners!" Sakura said, her fists trembling (though Sasuke and Naruto knew very well it was more due to being nervous than being angry). Sasuke merely shrugged and smirked at Sakura. He whispered something to her left ear that clearly embarrassed her much more than she already was, and that made her chase him angrily around the courtyard. Sasuke looked like he was having fun, though.

"Did you, Hinata...?!" Naruto asked with the voice of someone who senses his day of final judgment nearby. Hinata looked down for a second, and then at Naruto. She was still red on her cheeks, but she was determined.

"Was I not supposed to? I'm serious about you. And I wasn't feeling like hiding what happened between us as if it had been something wrong."

"It's not like I'm saying you shouldn't have done it..." Naruto sighed and felt his cheeks keep some of the reddish shades in them as he nervously looked away. "...You see, before Sasuke and I accidentally heard you guys talking, we were talking about it and... Well... I was planning to ask you out as my girlfriend today... Officially... And, you see... I had figured if your father was here, it was even better, because I could leave my intentions clear..."

"What?" Hinata was taken by surprise. Naruto was definitely not the romantic or sweet type. He tried, but he had no idea how to succeed... After all, the only male role he's had happened to be a perverted womanizer hermit. However, Hinata being a complete beginner in terms of couple matters, had no better knowledge herself beside the small and rare hints her sensei had given her. But she felt in her heart that the Naruto in front of her, nervously staring off and blushing, was incredibly cute in her eyes, and that the fact that he had plans to face her father this early was him being romantic... In his way. She grinned loudly (enough for the other couple, who were playing cat and mouse, to hear her), and rushed to hug the blond jiinchuuriki. He was surprised for a second, but then hugged her back, smiling.

"I love you, Naruto."

"I love _you_." He said. "Would you please be my girlfriend?"

"Of course!" Hinata said, both laughing and crying. Her voice shook a bit. "I'd be glad to. Please take care of me."

"Same here. I'm afraid I've no idea how to be a boyfriend, you see..."

"It's okay. We'll learn at our own pace. I'm sure we'll also have our friends to help us." Hinata said, smiling. Naruto smiled back at her.

"Our friends, huh?" He looked at Sasuke, who was still running away from Sakura, and happened to run near him. Another "best-friends-telepathic-message" was delivered to the Uchiha's only heir using Naruto's blue eyes, which was responded with an affirmative nod from the black-haired shinobi. He stopped dead and nimbly deflected Sakura's punishment punch, making her look at him first. She noticed Sasuke's serious expression, and then looked at Naruto, whose expression when looking at her was both serious and cold. Silence fell between both parties, only the wind was occasionally blowing and carrying small leaves with it.

"About my talk with Hinata... Sasuke, how much did you guys hear...?"

"I'd say about enough. We get the whole picture." He answered. Eye contact between Naruto and Sakura was not only tense, but heavy. It seemed like chakra was about to burst out of their bodies, which made Sasuke and Hinata even more serious.

"By the way, how come you came along with Naruto?"

"We saw you coming here while we were headed this way. My husband-sixth-sense activated then..."

"Nanda sore wa...?" Sakura whispered to herself, identifying Sasuke's comment. It was his sarcastic don't-change-the-subject order.

"Naruto, it seems she's serious about making things up with you again. If you did hear what we talked about, then you know what my position is in this situation..." Hinata said, putting herself in front of her boyfriend. Though he was taller, Naruto was evidently being blocked by her.

"Hmph..." Naruto closed his eyes for a bit. He gently requested Hinata to move aside by putting his hands on her waist, after which he folded his arms. "...I think the message I tried to convey at the wedding didn't go through your head, did it, Sakura-_san_...?"

"Drop the "-san" thing. I don't need any respectful relationship between us. I need to go back to normal." Sakura said calmly.

"You mean when I pretend like you didn't do anything to hurt me and get punched by you whenever _you_ think I'm being childish?" He opened his eyes and glared at her. "You've already got what you wanted, don't you...? Sasuke's here with you, and he's not about to leave your side anymore. How much longer do you want to make use of me...? What other promises of a lifetime do you want me to make for you?"

"And why does our friendship have to disappear just as my dream comes true? Why do I have to pay for my relationship with Sasuke with the one I have with you?" She glared back.

"Oi, oi, what kind of relationship _had_ we in the first place? You can say we were "friends", but I don't think friends lie to each other..."

"Enough of that shit! I was trying to protect you both, stop blaming me for-...!"

"_I know that!_" Naruto exclaimed, clenching his folded arms and glaring harder. "Why do you think I could barely stop Sasuke doing something he'd regret forever afterwards? It's _because_ I know what you were trying to do that you're even alive, idiot!"

"How could you know?!"

"Sai told us! Kakashi-sensei went after you once Sai's ink clone came back to fill us in. But I got worried, and I absolutely needed to see Sasuke _anyway_!"

"If that's the case, then what's your aim, clinging to that mistake I made so hardly? What do you want me to do about it? I would change it if I could, but it's not like I can travel through time and change it, is it?!"

"What do you mean "what do you want me to do?"...? I never said I wanted you to do anything. You assumed I would still be your friend after everything was over, and perhaps it was easier for me to let you think that, since we were at war and all... But there's no way I can stand seeing your face after what you did. Hinata explained it to you, didn't she? How important those words were, and are to me?" Naruto unfolded his arms. "If you had ever stopped to think how harsh a life without love from anybody is, if you had never tried to understand how important those three words are for a person like me, or like Sasuke, who grew up in such an environment... Why do you expect me to understand you and your reasons to do what you did?!"

"So what then?!" Sakura exclaimed back. "What was the point of bringing Sasuke back for the sake of Team Seven, if another of our members simply chooses to hate us instead?! Why did you put so much effort for me...?!"

"For _you_?!" Naruto let out a cold laugh. "Get a grip! I promised you to bring Sasuke back, but that doesn't mean I'd do it only for you! He's my best friend, and he's like a brother! Every time I saw him, and every time I fought with him, I was trying to save the bond _I_ have with him. Not yours alone! Don't get too cocky just because I took several of _your_ burdens with me! I told you when you used that fake confession to persuade me out of saving Sasuke. He's as important to me as he is to you."

"Then why can't you just move forward?! Isn't that how you've always been?!" Sakura's voice shook, and her eyes trembled. "Why are you so reluctant to forgive me? Why could you forgive Pain so easily and not me?! Why could you even forgive Uchiha Obito and not me?!"

"Don't misunderstand, Sakura." Sasuke said this time, before Naruto opened his mouth. Sakura looked at him, close to tears. "There's a great difference between forgiving and simply enduring one's hatred. He might have forgiven that Pain guy, but Obito is not the kind of guy anyone can forgive."

"That's right." Naruto's eyes looked down for a short time. "Even when it came to Pain - by the way, his name is Nagato- , I felt like I was only enduring the hatred at first... It's not like forgiving is all that easy. Time was the only thing that allowed me to realize Nagato's true colors, and what let me let go of that hatred... I guess the wound Nagato had caused me by killing that Ero-sennin simply scarred and stopped bleeding. But..."

He looked at Sakura. His eyes sharp.

"...When it comes to the wound _you _left in here..." He pointed at his heart with his thumb. "...Don't just assume it has scarred already. You can't force it to close, you can't speed things up, and you can't use Medical Ninjutsu with this one. You made it bleed, you'll have to wait until that stops. And right now, the only one who can cure this wound is Hinata." He used his left arm to embrace Hinata's waist and pull her close to him. She stared at him while blushing, and then gave the same determined look he had to Sakura.

"I can't just leave it like that." Sakura said, shaking her head. "Naruto, even when it couldn't be more obvious than Sasuke cared not about you or me, you still stood up for him. Eventually, you made him come back, which in turn made him my husband. I can't say I understand the feelings you had for me... Perhaps you don't think I do... But I feel like I do." She wiped our her tears with her wrist. "Perhaps you loved me as much as I love Sasuke... Perhaps you loved me even more than that, as you were happy as long as I was happy. I can't imagine what you went through... And I'm sorry. But tell me, what's wrong with wanting you to be in my life, even if I can't love you the way you wanted me to...?"

"It's not like you could have him back if you _could_ love him that way, Sakura-san." Hinata said bluntly. "As you can see, it's kind of late."

"You still think I'm mad because you don't love me back..." Naruto shook his head. "...If that was the case, I'd hate Sasuke. But I don't. I'll make it clear once again... I'm mad because you lied to me, and that hurt me. I didn't really care about the aggressiveness, or the bossy attitude, or the constantly relying on me... Yeah, it was tough, but I felt like, as long as you remained being you, honest to yourself, then I could handle it. But when you lied, you were pretending to be someone you are not... You were trying to say I did all that work for someone who doesn't even exist...By using words that you should have never used in the first place. Do you understand? That's why, back then, I said to you:..."

"..."I hate people who lie to themselves". I know. I remember." Sakura looked down again. "But I refuse to accept your rejection. I consider you as important to me as my family, and as Tsunade-shishou... I can't just ignore a person like you. And I can't just bear with you ignoring me. I've dreamed of a world in which my family includes Sasuke and you. I want my children to fool around with your children and yourself... I want them to call you "Uncle" or something... I want to have pictures of all of us together... I want to die having memories of the six of us together... Sai, Yamato-taichou... Kakashi-sensei... And, of course, if you do marry Hinata, then that would include her as the seventh."

"_Sakura...Please don't make it any harder..._" Naruto thought silently, as he watched her talk with a weak, sad, yet hopeful voice. Meanwhile, Sasuke and him exchanged another best-friends-telepathy moment, where their eyes met and Sasuke's expression said everything Naruto needed to hear. The Uchiha had smiled at Sakura, evidently saying "you really are a helpless little girl" with his smile and patting her head gently.

"Naruto..."Sasuke said lowly. Naruto's ears itched a bit. "...I think you know full well that Sakura will never change, and she'll always be the same noisy tsundere. But I think you also know that these kind of people, when they reveal their feelings, they are being quite honest. It's not rare for her to open up like this when she's with me, but with you, it might be embarrassing. Maybe that's why she always acted bossy and elder-sister-like. Why don't you let her off the hook this time?"

"What do you mean...?" Naruto asked emptily.

"You and I have lost our families and endured the pain of being alone for long enough. She says she wants you to be part of our family, and I was planning to do so myself. Don't you think letting go of what she did might be better than just losing another family for a second time? I know you will make your own family with Hinata, but if you feel in any way like me, you'll think the same I am thinking... The more the merrier, right?"

"Sasuke..." Sakura whispered weakly, as a couple tears came out of her eyes. She wiped them and non-verbally thanked her husband by holding his hand and kissing his cheek.

"Hurrrmph..." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, grunting childishly. "... Hinata, you'll soon be the mother of my children. What do you make of this?"

The Hyuuga heiress smiled at Naruto and held his hand as well.

"Aren't we still too young to hate each other like this?" She said warmly, an incredibly motherly voice escaping her lips. "I think Sasuke-kun might be right... I might no longer be the shy Hinata that I was before, but I also can't bring myself to hate nobody. Even if I try. Also, it might be a good thing for our children to be friends... The relationship between our families could be a huge stronghold of Konoha's in the future. Since the Senju Clan is no longer here, the Uzumaki, the Hyuuga and the Uchiha will have to take responsibility for the village. If we get along, everything will go smoothly, don't you think?"

Team Seven's three rookies looked at her. While she couldn't notice it, Hinata was glowing with a white, maid-ish aura, in the other's eyes.

"She's just like a mother." Naruto said, amazed.

"Yup." Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah, my mom talks just like that." Sakura nodded as well. "I think I found myself a sensei."

"You bet. Perhaps Hinata can help you improve your cooking, Sakura..." Sasuke said with a low, smug voice.

"Oh, feeling like being smarty-pants today, aren't we, Sasuke-kun...?" The pinkette cracked her fists threateningly. Hinata laughed out loud, while Naruto rubbed the back of his neck again and grunted. He and Sakura exchanged looks once more, jade-green and deep-sea blue clashed in an intense light. In the end, Naruto snapped his tongue with the expression of an annoyed fox cub, and gazed away, red on his cheeks.

"Okay, **FINE**. Whatever. I forgive you. We can be friends again, but you'll have to treat me and Hinata to Ramen tomorrow."

Sakura smiled with a radiant aura, and rushed to hug the Jiinchuuriki from behind. He was astonished to find himself half-way skyward, as Sakura's superhuman strength elevated him from the ground slightly.

"Okay! You can eat as much as you want!"

"Errm... Sakura...?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you feel like there's a strong killing intent behind us...?"

Once Sakura put Naruto down, and looked at him, she definitely felt a chilly, freezing wind of cruelty behind them, and her mind showed her abstract pictures of certain duet of black-haired guy and girl baring their devilish fangs at them. Both the pinkette and the blond gulped.

"Okay, let's turn around... Slowwwwly... Easy does it..." Naruto said, as he tried to keep his brave composure.

"Don't worry, Naruto... You're Konoha's hero, remember...?"

Fortunately for them, Sasuke and Hinata were simply staring at them as normal. Okay, not really normal. Hinata did look as if her hair had just mysteriously been floating, and the expression in her face definitely showed some traces of killing intent. Sasuke was back to normal, though.

"S-sorry Hinata... Promise I won't touch him like that again..."

"That's good. I figured you wouldn't want to die young and beautiful, Sakura-san." The heiress stated, smiling in the same motherly way, but for some reason, her face displaying a black, bloodthirsty aura that lasted for about a second.

"_It looks like I'll have to be careful... Never expected Hinata to be so scary..._" Naruto thought nervously.

"Now that you mention the Uzumaki..." Another male voice said from afar, which made the four jounin to turn around. Their eyes met with a familiar, gray-haired, scarecrow-looking man on his thirties. He wore his usual outfit, and saluted with his usual palm in the air. It looked like he had been waiting for their conversation to be over for a long time, and just like Hinata and Sakura before them, Sasuke and Naruto felt like blushing, wondering how much their sensei had heard. "... I figured it's about time we had a chat."

"Kakashi-sensei? What's happened?" Sakura said, as Team Seven's leader reached them on the courtyard, his Hyuuga escort fading away in a white smokescreen. The alluded produced a photograph from his left pocket and gave it to Sakura, who in return held it so that the others could see as well. A man of around the same age as Hiashi was there. It was quite the serious picture. He had short and curly red hair, and his eyes were deep, dark black. He had familiar features, but still wasn't ringing a bell for none of them.

"Who's this...?" Sasuke asked, though out of all the rookies, his face showed the least confusion.

"Yesterday's target's father. Uzumaki Kurogane." Everybody's astonished eyes jumped from the photograph to Kakashi, especially Naruto's.

"Wait... Does that mean...?"

"Yeah. He's related to you Naruto. As is our target. And quite strongly, if I may add. The Yamanaka Clan has been taking care of extracting and unsealing every little ounce of information they can from our target's deep consciousness... And Sakura's guess was right. His memories had been sealed away with a strong Fuuin Jutsu. So far we have managed to extract enough to say this:..."

He pocketed the picture again, and stared seriously at Naruto.

"Our target's name is Uzumaki Kamui, and his father Kurogane is your mother's older brother, Naruto."

"Older... Brother...?" Naruto's eyes trembled, and his balance was almost lost.

"Yeah. He's your uncle. And Kamui's your cousin... Orochimaru might know the whereabouts of what remains of your family, Naruto."

* * *

**_To be Continued._**

* * *

Muahahahahahahaha, finally, we're close to the moment where I display my ultimate PLOT NO JUSTU *eyes shining with a killing aura*... Kukukukuku... My perfect plan will come real.

Anyhow, I hope Kamui's flashbacks don't end up being too boring for you guys. As I said, this is the character I want to be related to the most, and the one that represents me. Don't worry, as soon as this Arc is over, Naruto will have twice as much spotlight. For those of you wanting more Sasuke moments or perhaps some funny SasuNaru... Kukukukuku... Fear not! I've been reading so many Shoujo Mangas that my eyes hurt and all my brain can see right now is either Bishonen or Bishoujo characters... If I don't read more Shonen Jump my masculinity might be lost between the pheromones of Girly looking guys who always have a dark past and are always the childhood friend who happens to beat the girl in everything she does.

Anyhow! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you look forward to the next! This story has already gone over 10.000 views, and 70 followers. Many won't think that's too much, but for me, this is a first... And I feel absolutely amazing because of it! Thank you for reading and reveiwing! Thank you for staying loyal to this story!

News Flash! I have an upcoming story up my sleeve! Its name is From the Inside Out, and as I said in previous chapters, it's got some School life in it. Be prepared for an Alternate Naruto Universe the likes of which you have never been ready for in your life! The reason I'm letting you know about this, is because I want you guys to tell me if NaruHina is still the most accepted pairing, or if you would like to read something different? I have to admit, my initial approach with the story is to have it be NaruIno, since I find this couple absolutely sexy. BUT! BUT! NaruHina still rules and the Black and Blond combo is simply too attractive for me! So I want to know what you guys think. Those of you who take the effort to review, please tell me what are your thoughts about this matter!

That's all! Read you next chapter!


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